


All I wanna do..

by Bremmatron33



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Fusion, Steven Universe inspired
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2018-04-19 04:53:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 59,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4733450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bremmatron33/pseuds/Bremmatron33
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All I wanna do is see you turn into a giant...Terrifying Decepticon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I've wanted to write this story for a while, its not connected with my other one whatsoever. It is heavily Steven Universe inspired so you know what you're getting into. Sorry for the poor grammar this is one of my first stories and its unbettaed like the others.

Magnus sighed as he heaved another load of rubble off onto the debris pile, it had grown quite large with the reconstruction of the city underway. The work was going slowly however and there were no extra servos to help it along. The team had picked out a lovely place for their new HQ to be built where the metal was stable but unfortunately the area was already being used by other edifices all of which were unsalvageable and not up to code in the least bit. The work of deconstructing the buildings was going poorly, the sun was hot, the air smelled of rust and the work itself was grueling, no one was happy. They were all on break at the moment, Bumblebee who had gotten a solvent source working was hosing Knock Out and himself off, steam rising off from their burning chassis, Smokescreen and Wheeljack eagerly awaiting their turns.

Both mechs fell to their knees groaning with relief as the medic doused them with the cooling solvent. “There has got to be a better way!”, Smokescreen whined half heartedly, knowing full well that there wasn’t.

“Well there isn’t so stop complaining, your annoying voice is just making it worse for everyone.”

“Knock Out!”, Magnus didn’t appreciate the greenhorns complaints either but he wasn’t going to let petty squabbles make things any worse. The ex-con responded by spraying the truck in the face laughing mirthfully. Magnus wanted to be angry with the speedster but the cold solvent felt far too nice on his boiling chassis. “Ughh lower please!”

“You got it big boy, whatever you need.”, Knock Out placed his thumb over the opening to the hose causing the solvent to fan out over Magnus frame. He too sank to the ground in need of a good rest.

“Is it break time already?” Bulkhead had made his way over his team of Vehicons trailing behind him like ducklings. Bulkhead who was used to this kind of labor was doing perfectly fine, but the Vehicons were panting, venting heavily. “Where is Arcee and that energon, it feels like we sent her hours ago?”

“It was thirty minutes and if you had sent me like I asked I would have been back by now.” Knock Out had moved on to reluctantly cool off the bruiser and his band.

“Yes but you can lift more than she can so we needed you here, besides if you were to go someone would have had to go with you.” Magnus gave the Aston Martin a wary look.

“Right-O warden forgot I can’t be left unsupervised, I might leave to go nowhere.”

“Magnus we sent out that call almost two months ago, has no one responded back, no one big, ya know like combiner big… like Superion.”

“I am afraid not Bumblebee, we are alone in this endeavor.”

Wheeljack had laid back on some rubble, a servo over his optics to shield himself from the sun, “Hey Knock Out, can you still do that thing you used to do with Breakdown, you guys were pretty big when you combined, and Six-point was huge.”

Knock Out paused in his watering to roll his optics at the engineer, “Ah see even though I can still perform Spark Genesis there are a couple large holes in your plan as I am missing all the components to form Contusion or Six-point.”

Bumblebee, Smokescreen, and Magnus all turned to look at the medic. “You are a Genesis-former, why did you never utilize it.” Magnus looked a little shocked but Smokescreen and Bumblebee still looked completely clueless.

“Umm wait..wait what is a Genesis-former exactly and why do we care?” Smokescreen nodded in agreement at Bumblebee’s inquiry.

“Genesis formers are natural combiners, except they’re better, more complete beings no matter how many bots are involved, but generally less is still better. Most Genesis use their powers in teams of two or three but it can go higher but any more than five or six and you start dealing with far too many personalities. You actually used your powers with Menasor once, that must have ended horribly.”

“We were a fine team, the Stunticons actually respect me so it was quite easy fusing with them.”

“Wait, so you’re telling me we have been breaking our backs doing this the hard way when you could have just combined with one of us and we could have been done already.” Smokescreen fell back dramatically and groaned.

“It’s a pretty personal thing kid, but yeah we could be done if Knock Out would just suck it up and fuse with one of us.” Wheeljack looked at the Aston Martin his optics pleading.

“If you have these powers why did you never once utilize them when you were on earth?” Bumblebee was disbelieving of the other mech’s words.”

“It’s personal and none of your business Bumblebee, and I will not just suck it up, but if you really want to get the work done I can see if Soundwave would be willing to lend a servo.”

“You’ll fuse with Soundwave but not one of us, why, all of us are way cooler than him.”

“It is not about how “cool” you think you are it’s about compatibility I don’t trust any of you nearly as much as I trust Soundwave, besides Soundwave likes fusing so he might actually agree to help.”

“I don’t know if I exactly like the idea of Soundwave knowing where our HQ is going to be, besides don’t you think it could be quite the bonding experience if you did agree to fuse with one of us, it would definitely be a great trust exercise.”

“Synergy can’t be forced Magnus, I can tell you already it won’t work if you want the work done it’s Soundwave to no deal.”

The idea was tempting even with the threat of Soundwave causing problems. Magnus debated with himself for a few moment, sure the work could be done without the shortcut but by the looks on everyone’s faces, they would probably all snipe at him now that they were all aware that there was a possibility of it going faster. “Alright Knock Out call Soundwave.”

Wheeljack threw his servos into the air triumphantly, Knock Out went off to comm Soundwave just as Arcee came into view. “Well hello lazybolts, what are you all doing just sitting around?”

“Waiting for you, were starving out here waiting for you!” Bulkhead grabbed the cubes of energon Arcee had brought and quickly handed them out to the hungry crew.

“Well I am sorry I can’t filter energon as quickly as Knock Out, convince Magnus to lighten up and next time he can go. Speaking of which what is he doing over there all on his own?”

“He’s calling Soundwave supposedly they’re going to fuse together and save us all from snuffing our own sparks.”

“We’ve already become that desperate huh?”

“Wheeljack brought it up, if I had refused you would have either pushed Knock Out into doing something he was uncomfortable with or would have bothered me endlessly till I agreed.”

“Yes I would have.” Wheeljack cackled smugly.

“How big are they going to be anyway, combiners are massive but that’s five bots, is two going to really make much of a difference?”

“Contusion was pretty big, he did some damage. I didn’t even know Knock Out fused with any other Decepticons but Soundwave is pretty scrawny so who knows what they’re going to look like together.”

Knock Out sauntered back over, “He’s still pissed about what happened on the Nemesis but he’ll do it if I help them with something as well.” he looked at Magnus, waiting for a response. Magnus nodded and waved his servo dismissively. Knock Out retreated to his systems for a moment. “Alright he’ll be here soon.”

They had all gotten back to work by the time Soundwave had gotten there, the jet landed soundlessly in front of the medic. Knock Out dropped the chunk of metal he had peeled off the building and greeted the other mech. Soundwave was silent but Knock Out could tell that he was eager, Soundwave brought up a smiley face on his display which proceeded to explode into digital fireworks. Knock Out couldn’t stop himself from smiling as well, it was always nice to see Soundwave so excited. “I know it’s been a long time since we’ve done this hasn’t it.” Soundwave grabbed at Knock Out’s servo and dragged him off to find a more open area.

The others had noticed the Decepticons arrival, Bumblebee ran over to the two not wanting to miss the show. Magnus rushed over as well, wanting to go over some last minute clarifications. “This is safe correct, you two can actually form a competent, sane mech.” Knock Out looked at the communications officer for a long moment.

“Ummm….yes.” Knock Out looked unsure but Soundwave nodded impatiently. “We need a bit of space to do it, so well just be over there.” Soundwave pulled Knock Out away bored with having to deal with the formalities. The other members of team prime convened eventually content to rest and watch whatever was about to take place.

At first it didn’t look like much was happening, Soundwave started off with a low bow as Knock Out pulled out his staff, using the wheels on his feet he smoothly did a few circles around the other mech. Soundwave pulled himself back up and closed the gap between the two of them, after that the two began to fight, well it looked like a fight but no one was getting hurt. Knock Out acrobatic and lightning quick danced around the taller mech using his staff as support, Soundwave just as quick but more concise with his actions kept the two at a close proximity.

Bumblebee watched with rapt attention as each mechs chest panels slowly began to open, the light from their sparks spilling out not even dulled by the bright sun. “No wonder he never used this during battle this is taking forever!” Bumblebee punched Smokescreen in the shoulder, not wanting the rather awe inspiring moment to be ruined by the speedsters impatience. Knock Out had began to glow a soft white, the Aston Martin drew himself closer to the jet and leaped up hooking his talons on to the taller mech’s shoulders and pressed their sparks together. The soft glow slowly enveloped Soundwave as well, he tossed the smaller mech high into the air and took a bit of a running leap before transforming. As quick as he went up Soundwave came back down in a spinning nose dive, he transformed and pulled Knock Out close again. The light now completely consuming them grew brighter and bigger as the two fell back down.

The shock wave of their impact was massive sending rust and debris flying up in a dangerous blinding cloud. The blast sent Bumblebee and some of the others flying back while Bulkhead and Magnus barely stood their ground. A monstrosity rose, emerged as the dust settled, whatever had become of the two mech’s was now massive and haunting. The new mech was as Wheeljack predicted no combiner but they towered over the other mechs dwarfing them easily.  
Whatever they had become certainly didn’t look like any combiner either, with a full face helm that was roughly avian shaped and two sets of arms the creation barely looked Cybertronian and thanks to the nature of Knock Out and Soundwave it was unnaturally spindly and bare looking. The creation ambled closer, trying to get used to its unfamiliar peds. It seemed to get used to itself quickly its shambling gait soon turning into an elegant swagger. It was a lot like watching a baby deer take its first steps, which was a pretty good comparison because the new mech had legs similar to Soundwave's strange ones. It called out to the awaiting Autobots as it drew closer.

“Hel-hel-hel-hello Autobots are we not a sight to be SEEN!”, the voice was sharper and more nasally than Knock Out’s but every now and it would dip back down into a more deeper tone, it was a little off putting but the new mech definitely spoke like Knock Out. “Are we not a SUPERIOR entity the likes of one, none have ever wit-wit-wit-witnessed.”, the giant mech laughed deeply one of its secondary arms reached up to the creature’s chest as it’s chassis shook. “That is not but a dramatic fib, we love to be seen even Lord Megatron gazes in aw-aw-aw-awe at our magnificence!” Even though the creature looked elegant, tall, slender, and sleek it moved with strangely clockwork like motions due to its unfortunate tick.

Bumblebee was the first to recover, his optics wide with wonder at the strange site. He ran forward wanting to get a better view. Magnus raced after him not liking how unusual and erratic the creature moved. Closer now Bumblebee was able to see them better, they were black and gold with white details and they had wings, not only just on the the mech’s arms like Soundwave but on their back as well, Knock Out’s tires were no where to be found, and although the mech did look quite a bit more Soundwavy it was clear to see that they were definitely their own mech. Bumblebee couldn’t help but wave excitedly. “Thank you Bumblebee-bee-bee-bee at least SOMEONE is excited to see-see-see me.

Bumblebee looked up frozen in amazement, Magnus had finally had caught up he tried to drag the young warrior back but the creature dropped down quickly and picked the small mech up in its secondary servos, bringing the smaller mech up to it’s huge faceplate. The gestalt flipped up the visor of its helm and stared at Bumblebee with huge optics, so black and shiny Bumblebee could see himself in them. No, they weren’t reflecting exactly, it was replaying, the creatures optics were actually monitor displays just like Soundwave's mask, except at the moment they were displaying what the giant mech was seeing right now.

“You guys look amazing, like that was amazing, and you have wings-HUGE WINGS CAN YOU GUYS ACTUALLY TRANSFORM!” The gestalt gave the young mech a fang-filled smile.

“You have the pleasure of calling us Je-Je-Je-Jumpcut and yes we can indeed transform, we are a spacecraft.”

“PUT HIM DOWN NOW KNOCK OUT!”, Magnus screamed from below, Bumblebee might as well have been a minibot to the giant mech holding him, smaller even.

“D-d-don’t be so rude Ma-Ma-Ma-Magnus remember we are Knock Out and Soundwave WE are Jumpcut if you please!”

“Well I no longer wish for you two to be Jumpcut, I would like the both of you back separately. NOW!.” Jumpcut’s optics turned to slits as he glared at the tiny mech at his peds.

“What are we not what you wa-wa-wa-wanted, Ma-Ma-Ma-Magnus I am INSULTED, you have yet to even see us perform. Besides it’s not your call to make WE HAD A DEAL, you get your turn LORD ME-ME-MEGATRON gets his.” Jumpcut dropped down in a flash, slamming his large servo down over Magnus like a raptor capturing its prey. Magnus fell back on his aft as the servo trapped him, each digitip its own sharp sickle of a talon, in fact the metaphor wasn’t even necessary since each talon was just a sickle. Magnus’ spark spun in his chest as he narrowly escaped death. “Lord Megatron will always get what Lord Megatron wa-aa-aa-aa-ants.”  
The last bit of Jumpcut’s threat turned very vengeful ghost girl in a horror film esque.

“Whatever you say Jumpcut, just demolish the buildings.” Magnus normally would not back down no matter what the mech’s size, but to be stubborn in this situation would most definitely cost him his life. He had to remember that he was no longer dealing with Knock Out, but Soundwave as well.

“That’s better!” Jumpcut practically purred the words. He set Bumblebee down gently next to the leader then straightened up. “You and the others get a sa-a-a-a-afe distance away.” Bumblebee and Magnus transformed the rest of team prime followed in suite as they drove off a little aways.  
Once the last set of Vehicon flyers had safely landed Jumpcut got to work. Reaching back to the slot between the spikes on his back they pulled out a rather terrifying triple bladed scythe and made short work of the buildings. Rubble and bits of metal went everywhere, shrapnel from the demolition reached far, much further than the “safe” distance the Autobots had chosen.  
“Well,well,well, three buildings torn to scrap just as you requested. So if you do not mind.”

Jumpcut leap into the air and transformed a beautiful ship hovered in the air for a few seconds before it streaked across the sky. Magnus stared at the wreckage around him, then back to his team their optics wide. The sun was beginning to set it was time to head home.

* * *

 

 

Knock Out returned to the Nemesis early the next morning, his joints were sore from the work and the drive, Magnus didn’t want the Decepticons to know where they were keeping the Nemesis so he had gotten Soundwave to send him to a nearby location and had driven the rest of the way, which would have been fine if a wind storm hadn’t kicked up. With his paint scuffed and grit in his joints Knock Out was not the happiest camper at the moment.

Magnus had been waiting for him, a data pad in one servo and a half-finished drink in the other, it was a strong drink, a very strong drink and even though Magnus usually did not take part in the consumption of high grade or energex, he had most definitely needed it after the previous day. Knock Out paused to look at him, “Magnus it’s still early what are you doing up?” Magnus eyed the Aston Martin for a moment debating whether or not to tell him the truth.

“I was waiting for you, after your performance today I did not think you would be coming back.” Knock Out rolled his optics.

“What did you think you would be getting with Soundwave, I told you he was still mad.”

“I do not like the two of you when you are together, I do not like Jumpcut.”

“I’m not your ward, please do not talk to me like I am a new build, besides if  you think Jumpcut is bad let me call in Lockdown, I am sure you and Toxicshock will have the loveliest chat.”

“Knock Out!”

“No do not Knock Out me I don’t care what you like Magnus I offered you my help and you stomp on it, fine you don’t like Jumpcut well you never have to see him again for all I care.”  
Knock Out stormed off done with the conversation, a hot solvent shower was calling his name.  
Clean and grit free Knock Out was feeling much better, unfortunately the Autobot leader sitting in his bedroom quickly turned his mood again. “HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE!” Knock Out threw a polishing cloth at the seated mech.

“A vehicon gave me the universal passcode. I want to utilize your abilities Knock Out but the other Decepticons bring out the worst in you and I just think it would be for the best if you at least tried to Synergise with one us, you and Wheeljack have similar personalities.” Knock Out rolled his optics.

“If you want to see the worst in me I will gladly fuse with Wheeljack, you won’t be able to handle us, it would be like dealing with Bulkhead’s pet only size swapped and deadly.” Magnus suppressed a shiver, the medic was right that probably would not be the best combination even if it did work.

“How about Ratchet, he comes up most weekends anyway to make sure no ones torn each others intakes out so you could try and see if it might work.”

“I don’t want to fuse with Ratchet...he’s old” It was Magnus turn to roll his optics.

“Bumblebee, you will make a lovely match I am sure.”

“No.”

“Why, Knock Out why, you like Bumblebee the most out of anyone here and he would be more than eager I am sure.”  
“Three hundred years.”

“I’m sorry I’m not following you.”

“Thats how long we spent as Contusion, three hundred years me and Breakdown were together, fused together. It was only when Starscream hailed the Plaguebringer to get my help for Megatron that I even remembered that Knock Out existed, it had just been so nice being Contusion that it had no longer mattered who I had been alone. Even then we still didn’t want to separate, Motormaster had to beat us half to death just to get us apart. Some connections are just too strong Magnus and I don’t know if I want to find another one like that again. Even if it’s on accident.”

“I understand Knock Out, but please will you at least think about it.” Knock Out hugged his arms tightly and was silent for a long time. He sighed softly tilting his helm to one side unsure.

“Arcee and I might make a good team, if you don’t mind having to deal with a femme that could crush you in one blow.” Magnus held his servos behind his back, thinking the prospect over.

“I will go see what she has to say, but knowing her I am sure she will feel honored by your decision. Good night Knock Out.” Knock Out didn’t respond his optics already years away.


	2. Cool For The Summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is an Update like only one person wanted, but I did to break up the writers block I was having and also because I love this concept.

“Man it’s so not fair why does Arcee get to do all the cool stuff I know Knock Out and I would make a much cooler bot than Doa.” Bumblebee grumbled, it had been some time since Knock Out had first showed off his abilities and had started using them regularly to help the progress on reconstructing Cybertron. “Besides how is she any better than Jumpcut, she’s just as scary as Arcee usually is but she “moms” everyone more, it’s like having a giant version of Ratchet around!”

Smokescreen nodded sagely, “I know dude who knew Knock Out was secretly so protective, but you have been complaining about it for weeks now, if you want to fuse with Knock Out you have to bring it up with him since all his fusions are different he might consider trying it. He almost fused with Bulkhead when all those skrill attacked.”

“Yeah but he only considers it when there is a problem Doa can’t handle like the skrill, she was only able to deal with them because she turns into a Sphinx and Arcee finally got used to the combined transformation. You would think he would at least try Synergy with all of us at least once...just ya know to see what ya get. I just want to fuse with him SO BAD!”

“What don’t you want to do with Knock Out at this point though, you have been at his heels for months now. You have a serious crush, he’s still a Con Bee, you gotta give him some space.” Smokescreen waggled his optic ridges teasingly. “Can you really be that mad if you put your little crush on Knock Out aside, we wouldn’t be sitting in this HQ if it weren’t for Doa.” Smokescreen sat back in his chair smug, he knew Bumblebee had no real problem with Doa so it was fun to tease the younger mech.

“Oh give him space, you should take your own advice Smokescreen. It is disgusting watching you with Magnus I can’t wait to see your faceplate when Rodimus gets here. Magnus is going to ignore you even more than he already tries to now.”

“Fair point, we're both losers but at least you’re still a bigger loser than me. So Magnus thinks I’m annoying and I never do anything right, he’s not wrong but one day he will come to enjoy my charm. At least my crush isn’t a mass murdering medic from the other side.”

“Mmhhmm yeah sure. Were all mass murderers Smokescreen, everybody except you since you did nothing for most of your life but I have killed thousands of mechs even if I was a soldier I still killed them.”

“Oh Primus are you serious, you are letting Knock Out get that into your processor that you’re actually starting to believe his slag.”

“IT’S NOT SLAG, how many Vehicons have we killed, how many mechs that have brothers, sisters, Conjunx and we just killed them because we didn’t think they were worth saving!”

“Bumblebee, they were crazy that’s why we didn’t save them!”

“Whatever, I can’t talk about this stuff with you, you don’t even understand what it was like since you were cooped up with Alpha Trion. You never went through half the slag I went through.”

“Hey don’t judge, you’re the one letting the ex-Con trip you up, I am completely one hundred percent comfortable with everything I have done in my life.”

Bumblebee stood and left with a roll of his optics, it had gotten harder and harder to deal with his teammates whenever they decided to complain about Knock Out, sure he wasn’t perfect and maybe it would be dangerous to leave him alone anywhere but out of all the Cons that could have joined up with the Autobots, personally Bumblebee was glad it was the young medic. Whether or not it was based on the fact that he may or may not have a crush on the Con didn’t really effect his opinion….much. Knock Out was fun, smart, nice when he wanted to be, and a great conversationalist. Even as a Decepticon, Knock Out was still amazing at being unbiased he saw things as they were and made his choice on what was best for him and any mech he cared enough about, so as long as Knock Out cared enough about you there was no need to worry. Earning Knock Out’s favor was no easy task though and for every inch Bumblebee felt he gained in his relationship, Knock Out would just kick him back a mile. Still the optimistic Bot was not willing to give up he would make Knock Out like him whether the medic liked it or not.

It was almost impossible to get Knock Out alone now, Magnus was always in need of Doa and while Smokescreen was absolutely right about her being invaluable to the team, it still stung. Bumblebee had put in the time, he was the reason Knock Out actually contributed to the team instead of just sequestering himself to the med bay only speaking when he was needed like he did in the beginning. Bumblebee knew that Synergy was important to Knock Out so why did Arcee get to do it when she hadn’t done anything to earn Knock Out’s trust, even then it was still hard for Bumblebee to be truly angry about the situation. Fusing with Knock Out was great for Arcee, while they didn’t have that much in common they shared similar experiences. Knock Out had lost nearly all of his friends and partners to the war thanks to the Wreckers and…. Airachnid and Arcee had lost too many partners to the Decepticon collector and sometimes even just the consuming devotion some mechs had to the Autobot cause..

A fusion based on shared loss however made Doa angry, untrusting, and strangely over protective. Even bots like Magnus were always pushed far out of harm's reach whenever the gestalt had work to do. Doa was amazingly sweet when she was comfortable though, after she had finished with whatever Magnus needed from her she would sort of just sit and chill. This had been happening more and more as Knock Out and Arcee became comfortable with each other, unfortunately for Bumblebee this meant that Arcee and Knock Out were fused together for even longer than normal and while he loved Arcee, she was like a big sister to the young warrior and the last thing Bee wanted was to have her be there when he was trying to hit his crush up. Still he never passed up a chance to talk to Doa whenever he got the chance.

Bee found the gestalt working on their manicure outside the HQ, it was stuff like this that miffed the young warrior off the most. Why did Arcee get to enjoy fun times with Knock Out, Bee didn’t even like that kind of thing and he was jealous. Doa noticed him, her large faceplate leaned down to greet the smaller mech, her two sets of bright blue optics focused on him. ** _“Hello Bee!”_** The bright coral and lemon cream femm beamed happily down at him. _**“I hope you’re keeping yourself safe, eating well, staying clean. Grit in your joints will wear down your gears and cause so many issues, plus the pain is terrible and you wouldn’t want that would you?”**_ Like Jumpcut, Doa’s connection wasn’t perfect so her voice had a terrible echo to it, so sometimes it was hard to hear what the bigger mech was saying when she went on her little tangents.

Bee managed to get this one, he felt a blush rise to his faceplate, “I’m plenty clean I promise no silty joints on this mech.” Doa had an obsession with hygiene, not a scratch on her paint and not a spec of filth on her chassis. That was all Knock Out, but thanks to Arcee she pushed all of her high standards onto the other mechs. This made Magnus ecstatic since he loved how put together everyone looked thanks to it, but as for poor bots like Bulkhead who were stuck doing the manual labor it meant baths anytime he wanted to do anything that wasn’t work which most definitely included mealtime. It had been funny watching the femm wash the gaggle of Vehicons as if they were a batch of dusty puppies and he was sure that the Vehicons actually liked the positive attention, but it was not so fun when he himself was caught in her optic and he wasn’t looking his best. It got worse the longer they stayed together to the point where Doa just wanted to do everything herself while the other Bots just sat at HQ and did nothing like sparklings.

She would even get so bold as to scold Magnus or the other Bots for things and punish them. Surprisingly enough this behavior came from Knock Out who had been so used to keeping the Stunticons in place, and to do so it was often necessary to reprimand them as if they were new builds since any other punishment would aggravate their mental issues. Normally any bot would just laugh the action off but when it was coming from a gestalt the order, even such a childish one was hard to ignore, so Magnus could often be found sitting on a chair in a corner in “cool down” for raising his voice and using confrontational language.

 _ **“Good, you know I am always here when you need me.”**_ Doa went back to her manicure, a bright tiffany blue to match her detailing. That was another one of the gestalt’s problems, unless need for her help was directly expressed she generally kept to herself. She didn’t seem to need any more company than herself, which worried Bee a little, Knock Out had expressed his fear of losing himself to Synergy with someone when he first started fusing with Arcee. What if they were getting too comfortable with each other what if Knock Out changed his mind and liked Arcee enough to stay with her forever, what if Knock Out was gone forever and he would have to deal with Doa for the rest of eternity. Bee didn’t want that, Doa was nice sure but the fact of never seeing Knock Out or Arcee separately again tugged at Bee’s spark.

“What are you doing?” Bumblebee looked sheepish, he always felt like he was bothering Doa, he never felt that way around the two mechs separately.

_**“Manicure, Arcee has always wanted to try something more wild, but has never wanted to commit to actually living with it, not to mention she has little to no talent at detailing. So I offered to treat us to one that way when we separate she doesn't have to deal with it and Knock Out gets to have some fun. Win, win.”** _

The reverb almost blew out Bee’s audials as he attempted to piece together the gestalt’s response“Oh so you’ll be separating soon hopefully before Magnus needs you again?”

**_“Why what’s wrong, who’s hurt...someone’s dead!”_ **

“NO NO, everyone’s fine I just wanted to talk to Knock Out alone but I don’t want to spoil your fun so...I’ll just leave you alone I guess.”

_**“Something’s wrong why are you sad, tell me why you’re sad!”** _

“I’m fine I promise I just wanted to talk to Knock Out alone but you’re doing something so I can wait.”

_**“Is it medical, personal, what. Manicures can be postponed Bumblebee if you need me to separate just tell me!”** _

“It can wait I PROMISE please just, I’m gonna go!” Bumblebee ran off far too embarrassed to articulate his problem at the moment. The young warrior wished he could just say how he felt but he knew how selfish it sounded because it was selfish. It was Knock Out’s choice and if he didn’t want to fuse with anyone but Arcee then there was really nothing Bee could say to change the medic’s mind. Knock Out was stubborn hard to negotiate with unless something was considerably tilted in his favor.

It was some time later, night had fallen and Bee had just returned from a well needed joyride. He would have extended his ride for much longer but the cold season rains were coming in and while the warm season rains were lovely and refreshing the cold season rains could eat through a bot in minutes without proper coating which of course Bee hadn’t had the chance to get yet. Doa was nowhere to be seen, and she wasn’t even in the small temple like room that Bulkhead had generously constructed in case the two didn’t feel like separating. Bee crossed the covered walkway and entered the HQ just as the sky began to pour rain in heavy sheets. The Urbana shook the cold from his circuits as he transformed making a beeline for the med bay. Knock Out wasn’t there, swearing softly he backtracked to the doctor’s personal quarters

Bee silently begged that the young medic hadn’t already called it a night, he hesitated for a moment before knocking. Bee could hear sighing and the scuffing of metal, Knock Out didn’t sleep much on a good night and thanks to the war he woke easily at the slightest disturbance and often had such terrible night terrors that he wouldn’t even attempt to recharge for cycles.. The young warrior always felt terrible when he woke the medic up after he learned this, well he couldn’t really say he learned the information Knock Out never discussed his problems with the younger mech but Bee was a Bot of observation. It was hard to spot since Knock Out was so diligent with his paint job but there were days when he didn’t have the time, when the sections under the doctor’s optics would be yellow from the constant heat output. Bee had gone as far as to ask Ratchet if there was anything the senior medic could do to help the situation but as usual Ratchet just reprimanded Bee for being too nosey even if he was just trying to help. Cons, Bots, it didn’t matter no one like other mechs pointing out their flaws and since Knock Out was a medic just telling the Con obvious cures to his problem would probably just end up being an insult.

It was all that and more that made fusing with Knock Out so tantalizing, the Con was so much more than just a snarky pretty boy with no concept of ethics. He was just a mech who had made his choices, and why they may not have been the best possible ones Knock Out unlike so many others had managed to survive the war and considering how young Knock Out was he was well respected by most Cons and highly valuable member of the Decepticon army despite the way Megatron and the other higher officers treated him. Arcee had teased Bee that fusing with Knock Out was such a intimate experiences, more intimate than anything she had ever done in her existence and Arcee was no prude, it was a constant conversation, a constant experience, it was without a doubt a relationship. It was one that had to constantly move, immediately adapt and evolve or it fizzed out only on rare occasions did they ever go silent with each other. It was everything Bee could ask for and just what he wanted from the young medic at that moment. Bee had honestly never met a Decepticon whose entire existence had been the war, who had only a small memory of what peace had been like, and who had actually been affected by the restrictions and inequalities of the caste system. Simply he had never met a Con young enough and sane enough that he could actually relate to till Knock Out.

The doors suddenly slid open Knock Out stood nonchalantly looking just a little bit upset that his recharge had been interrupted. “Oh it’s you, I attempted to look for you after we separated but Magnus informed me that you had left, forgive me for not going after you blindly if you had actually told Magnus where you were headed I might have made an effort to follow you.” Something on the floor conveniently caught Bumblebee’s attention at that moment, he would have told Magnus where he had been headed if he had had any destination in mind, Bee felt bad for making Knock Out wait.

“Sorry for waking you.”

“I wasn’t resting I was reading, books can generally be put aside for another time.”

“Oh...that’s good.”

“What did you want from me?”

“How….do you like fusing with Arcee.”

“Bumblebee.” Knock Out rolled his optics, the young warrior had been asking him this constantly since he started fusing. Knock Out was well aware of how badly Bee wanted to fuse with him, and his eagerness was honestly the reason Knock Out refused him every time. It’s not that he didn’t want to fuse with Bee it was just, separating might be an issue. Bee was doing his very best to integrate the ex-Con into the team and it was easy to see the young mech’s interest was far beyond just that now. Bee actually wanted to get to know the young medic, he wanted every detail, every story, every aspect of Knock Out’s existence and it was becoming trying. Bee was trying very hard to be patient and maybe if they fused for no real reason the adolescent mech would tire of the novelty quickly. “Would you like to fuse with me?”

Bumblebee looked up stunned, “Really, but...but there’s no reason.”

Knock Out looked at him with lidded optics, “That’s the fun part. So what do you say?”

“Yes.” Knock Out took Bee’s servo and dragged him through the hallways to the pavilion, the rain was still heavy the noise pleasant. The open space was perfect for this and Bee felt his spark crackle with excitement, he had seen Arcee fuse with Knock Out almost thirty times now and each time he was amazed at how elegant and fascinating it looked. It really was more of a strange dance than a fight, but fighting had always been an easier concept to grasp for most Cybertronians.

“Alright don’t try so hard you just have to let it happen alright.” Knock Out pulled out his staff, “Don’t hit me or we are done I swear.”

Knock Out had such amazing control, like Arcee and Soundwave he knew every inch of his chassis, he knew how to step, bend, land. Everything was perfect, like it had been practiced all his life, and to be fair he had practiced all his life. It was an art, after Knock Out had joined, Bee had learned about what made the medic so dangerous on the battlefield aside from the doctors rather astounding acrobatics and lighting quick techniques Knock Out watched and he adapted. The speedster had perfected the art of running to survive another day, in fact he depended on it. Knock Out would do his best to get rid of an adversary quickly but if he ran into someone he couldn’t beat the doctor would just gather information, he would keep the fight going as long as he could stand and learn till he found something critical something that could be used to literally K.O. a mech in one hit. Then he would run and the next time he happened to run into that mech... well Bee was lucky to be one of the few exceptions to the doctor’s rather efficient track record of Autobot extermination. Distraction was the only way to survive an adaptive fighter like Knock Out and it was good for team prime, mostly Bumblebee that it had been so easy to distract the young medic. Bumblebee who usually hated being treated like a child was actually glad Knock Out never once saw the young scout he had been as a serious threat.

Bumblebee while being an amazing fighter had no real knowledge of combat that wasn’t shoot the enemy and run and also sneaking, sneaking saves lives. To put it lightly things were not going well. He wasn’t trying to overthink it, in fact he wasn’t thinking at all, Bee was constantly just staring at Knock Out and as soon as the young warrior tried to step in and do something even remotely cool he would fall flat on his faceplate. He never managed to hurt Knock Out luckily, but they were nowhere close to Synergy. Knock Out was having the best time laughing it up at Bumblebee’s failure. Bee wanted to cry a bit, this wasn’t going at all how he imagined it would.

“You’re taking this way too serious, it would almost be cute if you didn’t look so pathetic?”

“It’s not funny Knock Out, you said it was serious so I’m trying to take it serious.”

“It is serious to me now, but that’s only because I have the luxury of it being that way, before I was expected to just fuse with any old mechs they told me to for entertainment value.”

“You didn’t have a partner but Magnus-”

“Yeah well Magnus doesn’t know slag about my life, most Genesisformers were placed in the army, I was not. I was government property.”

“Property?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard about those greedy Senators, couldn’t just toss a sweet little ‘ol thing like me the troopers now could they. When I wasn’t arm candy I was under the supervision of the good Senator Shockwave as he attempted to figure out how to perfect his old mentor’s work of turning normal Mech’s into Genesisformers it was never perfect which is why in the end he called them combiners. I don’t know why Devastator wanted to lump himself in with them since they are not actually combiners they are Genesisformers but hey that is their business.”

“Is...that how you ended up with the Decepticons, Shockwave.”

“No actually, I had blown the joint by the time he joined up with them but even after his “treatment” he did often tell me how lovely it was having me back in his life, said I made the best cocktails he ever had, learned that skill early on; only the best for Senator Ratbat. I wasn’t even aware old one eye could make jokes after the whole ordeal, but they do say if you try hard enough that that sort of thing can be reversed.”

“I..I’m sorry Knock Out.”

“Don’t be I don’t care. Life before the war was boring but glamorous, I went to parties, lived in a fancy apartment, spent a lot of time with Senator Proteus, he was a real piece of work but he taught me so much so I can’t complain and even when I was being studied by Shockwave, he never hurt me. I had a better life than most Cons, mechs just assume that before I tell them how old I am that I was just like some med student drop out, because you know I’m not like the best medic, and then after I tell them how old I actually am they think I was just a med student and like wow you’re actually a really good medic, because if I had been a med student they wouldn’t have even let me touch another mech till I was older than I am right now. So remember that the next time you complain about me not being Ratchet. Ratchet learned a bunch of things in a fancy institution, I was given two circular saws and some old data pads and I didn’t even get to read the data pads because as soon as I tried we got casualties so I was given a set of tools and was told “to just fix them” good times in the Decepticon army. That little bit of information stays between us alright, because if Magnus finds out I have no actual proper medical knowledge not only will he stop letting me treat you but he will probably force me into some weird apprenticeship with Ratchet and I don’t want to do any of that.”

Bumblebee didn’t know how he felt about this new knowledge, on one servo that seemed like pretty important information that maybe should be addressed whether Knock Out wanted it to be or not. On the other Bee really just wanted to get back to trying to fuse with the young “doctor”.  
“Your secrets safe with me Knock Out, can we give it another shot?” Knock Out seemed to be perfectly fine with this.

Knock Out was a bit more aggressive this time, swiping playfully at the young warrior as Bee did his best to dodge while still keeping himself as close as possible. He couldn’t tell if it was working any better than their first attempts but at least it was more fun than having Knock Out laugh at him. Eventually he could see Knock Out’s chest plates separating, the soft glow slowly consuming him. Bee had gotten rather far away from the medic by this point, but he knew he had to do something at this point. Bee couldn’t think of anything, nothing as fancy as Soundwave’s aerial moves or as showy as Arcee’s acrobatics. Bumblebee opened his own spark panels and just lunged at Knock Out effectively knocking the medic to the ground.

Nothing happened, no glowing white, no intense warmth, no tingling feeling, just the feeling of Knock Out’s warm chassis beneath him, it hadn’t worked. The doctor was silent for a moment before he erupted in a fit of ugly laughter. Bumblebee couldn’t even believe it, he had been so close what else could Knock Out possibly want from him. Bee felt the doctor’s talons on his helm and the young warrior couldn’t help from laughing as well. I had been funny and Knock Out wasn’t trying to laugh at him this time just at the stupid situation Bee had put himself in.

One minute all there was was the soft comforting rumble of Knock Out’s chassis and then nothing but light. It was weird suddenly, Bee didn’t know who he was, where he was, what he wanted, suddenly everything was new. The only feeling he could compare it to was the first time he woke from the fields. Everything rushed back, everything he had even know, everything he was and more he wasn’t alone, Knock Out.

 _“Are we just going to stay here lying on the ground?”_ , Bee looked around for the medic but he wasn’t there, and yet he was Bee could feel him just at the edges of his mind, his spark. Had it worked was this Synergy.

“Knock Out!” Synergy was nothing like Bumblebee had expected, why couldn’t he see anything, why was he alone, what was happening?

 _“You don’t have to yell I am right here, are you alright?”_ Bee was not alright he didn’t know if he actually liked this. There was a sudden pain in his spark, he felt like he was sick. _“If you keep panicking like that we’ll split apart.”_ Bee felt warmth flood to his back the feel of Knock Out’s spidery talons encircled his waist. “ _I know it’s weird but I am right here. I’m with you.”_

“I can’t see you. I don’t know what to do!”

 _“No slag you can’t see me. I can’t see you either but I’m here you can feel me can’t you.”_ The feeling around Bee’s waist became tighter, a sudden solid pressure at his back, a warm breeze by his neck. _“I can’t exactly go anywhere.”_

“How do I do that, how do I touch you?”

_“Whoah there, a date first and then maybe.”_

“KNOCK OUT!” Bee could hear the medics laughter all around him and even as the doctor felt so close he sounded so far away. Bee felt another pain in his spark, he wasn’t sure he wasn’t sure of anything anymore. Knock Out intertwined his talons with Bee’s digits, the pain faded.

 _“Just imagine I’m behind you and think about what you want.”_ Bumblebee didn’t need anything anymore, the feel of Knock Out’s servo’s held in his was perfect.

“Why is everything so dark?”

 _“We’re just lying on the ground with our optics offlined that’s why. Do you want to explore, you wanna see what we look like?”_ Light filled his optics as they came online, Bee didn’t have to say anything to Knock Out to get that to work. The ceiling of the pavilion came into focus, the sound of rain, the chill of the wind, sensations bombarded him. _“Just remember I’m here and do what you want.”_

It was such a weird request, Arcee had said it was all about what both of them wanted. “What about you?”

_“Don’t worry you’ll know if I don’t agree on something.”_

Bee managed to stand up and looked around, the familiar scenery was not so familiar any longer. It was still the same place but the way he saw everything was much different, for a start he could see everything it was like a constant panorama in his mind. It was overwhelming, all the info flooding his processor. He fell down flat on his back, this was so new and strange how in Primus’ name was he supposed to get used to this. The view focused, no longer the spinning mess it had been, the only thing that was there was what should have been right in front of them, which was the ceiling again. _“Better?”_

Most definitely better, how did Arcee get used to this so fast. “What are we, are we a beastformer like Doa?”

 _“Hmm, I don’t think so, feels like a jetformer we have wings can’t you feel them?”_ He could, Bee tried his best to flex the ones on their back, they tilted up pulled flat against their back. Suddenly it was extremely uncomfortable to have his wings pressed against the metal ground. He sat up and let his wings stretch back naturally, that felt so much better. He tried to stand again, at least that was normal, normal legs, arms, normal servo’s. Not the nasty blades like Jumpcut, or the daggers Doa had for digits; just normal servos and while his peds were not normal exactly, they were ok, they were the strange haunches similar to Jumpcut but there were landing gears behind them to help keep his balance. This was good, this was ok Bee was feeling a lot better about everything now. They were able to walk around the pavilion without crashing and with Knock Out focusing their strange new vision they were able to enjoy the experience without feeling sick. Still it wasn’t what Bee had been expecting, Arcee said her and Knock Out would talk constantly but aside from the moments when Bee freaked out Knock Out was mostly silent.

“Knock Out why won’t you talk to me?”

_“What do you mean?”_

“Arcee said you guys talk all the time, but you’ve been pretty quiet am I doing something wrong?”

_“That’s because we’re usually doing an important task, letting you run around to enjoy yourself doesn’t require much effort on my part, believe me I am used to fusing with mech’s just for the novelty of it.”_

Bee felt his spark go dim from the words, the novelty, was that the reason Knock Out finally let be fuse with him, because he thought Bee was just another jealous brat who wanted to play with him like some new toy and if he just finally did it eventually Bee would just get bored of him and move on. “I don’t want to do this any more I want to split up please Knock Out.” The pain was back, sharp and intense.

_“Bee-”_

“No! I don’t want this!. I don’t want this if you think I think of you as some….some toy. It’s not fair to you, I never want to hurt you like they did Knock Out no matter how much you say you were ok with being used I can tell that you’re not, no one could ever be ok with that, no one! I want to do this when you actually want to...when you actually trust me.”

 _“I know Bee.”_ Knock Out felt close again, their digits intertwined. The pain dimmed to an ache. _“I...did feel that way but I always do at the beginning. It protects me... from getting attached. You... have such loud thoughts. I chose my words poorly... after what I told you about my past...I know you don’t think of me as a toy Bumblebee, but Synergy is....it’s serious and some mechs are more enamored by the idea of it than the actual experience and they don’t feel the connection as strongly as the…..Genesisformer would...as I would...and that’s ok sometimes it really is. Some things are just for fun and they should be just for fun like with Soundwave. I love being Jumpcut it’s amazing but I don’t long for him like…. It’s easy with Arcee, with her it’s just business and it can be fun...but that’s not what you want and what you want is dangerous territory for me Bee and it could be dangerous for you too. I know we’re both young and I know you’re impatient but I need time I really really do because I still can’t….I just want this to be for fun because I want to have fun with you and I am having fun. I did this with step with Arcee too, just let her take control and I just sat back and made sure we didn’t die because that’s easy, it’s the easiest way for me to get to know the other mech. It’s how I start off any fusion whether it’s serious or not because it’s the best way. I’m...flattered...and I am interested in what you want Bee, but you need back off the gas because I’m...I can’t do what you want me to do... things just need to happen as they happen.”_

Bee felt his spark crackle back to life, he knew having a crush on a Con was never going to be easy and he had honestly set himself up for total rejection but Knock Out was actually interested. That felt amazing, he felt amazing and if all Knock Out needed was some well deserved time and some fun well Bee was more than happy to oblige. He felt his own digits tighten against Knock Out’s “No promises about me bothering you to the pit and back though.”

_“I think I can manage your constant interrogations about my personal history.”_

“So.. what should we call ourselves?”

_“I don’t know, we don’t even know what we really look like yet.”_

“Yeah but like I don’t care about looks...so what are you feeling?”

_“Hmmm, feeling. How about Cicindel?”_

“Uhhh…”

_“It means Firefly or lightning bug.”_

“Primus yes that is totally our name!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cicindel is one letter off from the latin for firefly its supposed to have an A at the end but it sounded too feminine so I took the A off. For anyone who was hoping for a long description of him, he is a jet that looks like the Milano, Star Lord's ship from guardians of the galaxy which is technically a spaceship but I really see him as more of a jet because I want him to be a jet but I also wanted a shitty Serenity reference so yeah. I imagine his helm looks a little bit like OP's just because both Knock Out and Bumblebee both really love the way OP looks. He has four digits just like Bumblebee, his feet sort of look like long fall boots but also weird faun legs figure that one out and along with the wings on his back he has a set on his forearms like Knock Out's doors. He doesn't have normal optics just a vision band which is more like a vision triangle with like cute big digital optics that are just for show so he's not to creepy He also has vision bands on his shoulders and on his back so he has a panorama view. He also has Tesla coils that jut out his back so he's just a glorified defibrillator. He's black, neon green and orange with neon blue vision bands. Also his joints and stuff don't actually connect with wires they're held there electromagnetically so he can just like twist himself in so many ways it's scary sometimes Magnus hates it.


	3. All That Glitters...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this has been a long time coming. I'm sorry that this chapter is way longer than the others but I'm Magnus/Knock Out trash so I can't help myself. Thank you lovely Birbteef for enabling me. This won't be shippy at all though... maybe a bit. Either way its more amica endura planned anyway.

Knock Out was fine using his power for the cause but he wasn’t fine being pushed, even if it was necessary. So when Starscream finally showed his face with Bruticus’ power behind him things got a little tense between Knock Out and the Autobots. Ultra Magnus wanted him to fuse with Arcee and Bee at the same time and that just wasn’t happening. He had only ever fused with one other being at a time before and yes he considered Menasor as one being. A very big, unruly, dumb being. Menasor was his own thing. He was his own mech whether others believed it or not. Knock Out had learned to understand him before he ever fused with him. It was different but of course Magnus couldn’t understand. Most normal mechs didn’t. That’s why Knock Out hung out with mostly combiners in the first place. They understood.

When he finally proved to the Autobot leader that he couldn’t keep a stable fusion with the two Ultra Magnus brought up the request to fuse with with him. Knock Out knew it would likely not work and even if it did it wouldn’t be healthy or stable. It was so easy to get lost in the terrible fusions as it was the closest ones. Still Bruticus was tearing up the place in Starscream’s name in the hopes of making their own spot at Iacon and with Megatron and Soundwave still off in the wilds sulking together it was Knock Out’s job to take care of unruly Cons for the Bots. Being a medic offered a few boons. Knock Out knew most every Cons weak spots after all and Bruticus was no different. All he had to do was be able to reach. Fusing with Magnus would give him enough metal and components to work with. If he could manage to keep them together long enough.

Like Knock Out had assumed synergising with Magnus was almost impossible. The leader didn’t respond well to the play fighting display and with the whole team watching in rapt attention eager to see what would come from the two Magnus was uneasy. Embarrassed even. He had accidentally punched Knock Out clear across the pavilion a dozen or so times already so the young mech was getting fed up.

“This isn’t working you don’t want this! Let me try someone else! If I fuse with Bulkhead I might be smaller but I’ll be denser. We’ll be big enough to hit him where it hurts.” Knock Out snarled as he gave the leader a swift punch to the middle out of frustration and resentment. He was going to be feeling this stupid fusion and they hadn’t even succeeded to fight anything!

“ME? Sorry Knock Out no. No way. Nothing personal but-” Bulkhead was floundering in his words. He knew defeating Bruticus was important but he didn’t know if he was ready to get so close to Knock Out. They still had a lot of built up static between them and while they were both big enough mechs to keep it shoved down for the most part Bulkhead was worried something like synergy with the mech would really make their issues rear to the forefront. He was relieved when Magnus cut him off...that was until he heard what the leader had to say.

“Agreed. Bulkhead has been plagued by his old wounds for the past week now thanks to the cold. He has barely been able to work let alone fight. You would be defeated in an instant with his disability.”

That really grinded the old wrecker’s gears. “Hey! Kindly keep it on mute Commander! I can do whatever needs to be done!” Arcee leaned over and punched him lightly. Bulkhead knew Ultra Magnus was just stressed out at the moment and was just stating the facts but that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it. Even if none of the team cared about him being less than his best.

“I’m sorry Bulkhead I should have chosen my words better but I don’t want the risk of injury to you or Knock Out to be any higher than it normally would. Let’s just try again.”

“ Risk of injury my aft. You’re the only real risk to me at the moment.”

Magnus sighed loudly as his strength momentarily died. “Knock Out.” His words were pained.

”Fine but if you hit me in the face one more time….. “ Knock Out didn’t even finish the sentence too tired to even think up a good threat. What he said under his breath was scathing enough though. “Soundwave’s only a call away but no. Primus I would have better luck fusing with Megatron.” Ultra Magnus frowned at the medic knowing he was probably right even with what the old warlord had gone through. He also knew the act would disgust Knock Out but the leader couldn’t help but fear that the medic might be seriously considering the idea.

“That will never be necessary. We will get this.”

“Surrrrre.”

As they started up another attempt Knock Out could already tell it wasn’t going to work. Magnus was stiff and nervous. More worried about the optics on him than the task at servo. It was also clear that Magnus didn’t know how to spar that well. Probably not used to training with something he couldn’t snuff and rip to shreds. Suddenly he grabbed Knock Out by the wrist and tried to yank him closer. Knock Out heard the horrible grinding pop and felt the sudden burst of shooting pain as his servo was dislocated. Magnus realized his mistake in an instant but the damage was done. Knock Out looked on in shock at his servo as it hung by the, luckily still attached, wires. It was an easy fix honestly but he was a medic and just looking at it made him want to purge his tanks. He didn’t even bother screaming or punching Magnus he just transformed and drove off to the Nemesis with only a shrill indignant huff.

* * *

 

Knock Out had thrown a fit when at first Ultra Magnus just decided to continue using some of the Nemesis’s components rather than waste time and energy building new things they didn’t really need, more specifically a new medbay, in the new HQ. Of course they allotted space for one there just wasn’t one. No need for it really Magnus had said. The one on the Nemesis worked perfectly well he said. Yeah right! It had been insulting then, but now he couldn’t be happier for the privacy. He had gathered everything he needed and retreated to his personal quarters to lick his wound. He had long ago changed the universal passcode for safety reasons so there was no way for the Autobot leader would be able to find him before he wanted to be found.

Well that wasn’t entirely true. Magnus knew where his quarters were and he had no problem getting onto the ship itself so the leader actually found him rather quickly Magnus was just stuck screaming outside the door getting angrier and angrier when Knock Out refused to respond.

“Knock Out please! You know I didn’t mean to hurt you like that. I have apologised many times and I will do it as many as I need to but you are being unreasonable. There are bigger issues at servo! Starscream is just flattening Iacon to remake it in his image. Do you know how many dead mechs are still stuck in those old buildings? You promised to help give them proper funerals. You promised to help honor them. They don’t deserve such careless treatment.” His guilt tripping only got him more silence. “Knock Out.” After thirty or so minutes Knock Out finally unlocked the door letting it woosh open.

Knock Out was just sitting on his berth head in his knees. Ultra Magnus sighed under his breath, he could feel the medic’s taught static filled EM field from even this far away. Knock Out was just exhausted and angry. As expected honestly. It had been a long day and while Magnus wasn’t sure just how much energy it took he was sure all of their failed synergy attempts had taken their toll. “Are you alright Knock Out? Your servo back in usable condition?”

“I have ball jointed wrists. Re-positioning all the wires you yanked out of place was the hard part. Thanks.” Sarcasm dripped from the young medic’s words. Ultra Magnus tried to not look affected by them. Knock Out was a medic. Fixing himself surely wasn’t the horrendous task he was making it out to be. Besides Magnus refused to feel dramatically repentant for an accident of such small caliber.

“I’m glad the damage was so easily repairable.”

“I’m sure you are.”

“Knock Out there is still a Combiner destroying a very important Autobot city and we need to stop him.”

“Yes well I’ve been doing my best. You’re the one who doesn’t want this Magnus. I’m a toy not a tool. You have to want to play with me. You need a little imagination.”

“Don’t speak about yourself like that. I don’t see you that way.”

“I know you think I’m just some weapon you can activate whenever you want and I’ll work no matter what but it doesn’t work that way.”

“ I don’t think of you that way!”

“Sure.”

“Don’t use that passive aggressive tone with me!”

“What tone would you like me to use with you then?”

“Knock Out please. I admit that our failure is my fault. Can you blame me? You’re still very much a Con and this peace is still tentative. I don’t trust you enough to form any sort of relationship with you that’s anything more than what we have now.”

“I know. I don’t blame you but what do you want me to do? Do you expect me to change the entire basis of spark genesis? Of synergy? I can’t.”

“I don’t expect that but this needs to be done! We need to come up with a reason that I can feel comfortable with.”

“Really? You want me to just give you a reason to trust me? After all I’ve done? Would you like me to take that lovely new servo back? How about Praxus. All the work I’ve done for you. How about that?”

“That’s not the same thing I know you will continue to help. You care about Cybertron but this is between us.”

“Well I can’t give you a reason to trust me. I don’t have a reason to trust you. You still parole the Nemesis every night trying to catch me doing something. I’m afraid the moment I mess up or refuse you one too many times you’re just going to shoot me! Do you think I actually get any rest with you out there? Do you even understand what that’s like for me as field medic? Even Soundwave didn’t do that sort of slag to me!” Ultra Magnus went stiff. And here he thought he had been sneaky. He had known Knock Out was easily startled but he didn’t think he was on that high of an alert.

“I didn’t know. I will reduce my rounds.”

“Oh how kind of you. Eat my aft.”

“Knock Out!”

“What?” Magnus was testing the medics temper now as well.

“Bruticus and Starscream are still out there. We need to do something now. Let’s go try again.You can fight with me as we attempt. I even sent the others back to the HQ so we’ll actually have some privacy.”

“Fine but were not fighting anymore.”

“Excuse me? That’s how you synergise.”

“No that’s the easiest way to get other mechs to synergise with me. You never like doing things the easy way though Magnus. I’m not surprised. Let’s go.” Knock Out pulled himself from his berth and pushed passed Magnus to head outside. Magnus followed a few paces behind.

* * *

 

Out in the pavilion again Knock Out stood and waited for Magnus to draw near. As he did he questioned the medics motives. “So now what?”

“Do you remember the old Cybertronian dances? The stuffy ones that we always had to do at balls and coronations.”

“Of course I remember.”

“Good. They’re just the boring repetitive thing we can do to get you to feel comfortable with this situation.”

“Really?” Ultra Magnus was sceptical.

“Yes really now come closer.”

“Come closer….?”

“Sir~”

“Thank you.” Ultra Magnus moved closer and held out his servo to take Knock Out’s. Knock Out took it and turned so his back was against Magnus. The leader watched as the medic shifted his tires into a more comfortable position before he pressed his back flush to Magnus front. A small observation but an interesting one. Primus Magnus was getting nervous already. Getting into the right position was a bit difficult thanks to height disparity but in the end they found something they could live with.

As they danced Magnus understood why Knock Out chose this method. Like he imagined synergy might require, the old Cybertronian waltz required a trusting closeness, understanding, and adaption. One had to trust that their partner knew what they were doing and depending on their speed and subtle cues one had to decide if they were going to lead or follow. Both was required at some point by each partner. It was a push and pull. A circuit, and to be a fluid continuous one. Each partner had to know the dance, pattern, and tempo. They needed the same rhythm. They needed to be in sync.

Knock Out was an excellent dancer. Magnus was... good enough. He knew the moves, the pattern, and the pace but getting them down was not as easy as one might imagine. It was a simple dance but one that looked clunky without thought. Without effort. Without desire. Magnus had none of those things.

“You need to talk to me Ultra Magnus.”

“What would you like to talk about?”

“You. Tell me Ultra Magnus what did you do for fun before the war?”

“I studied. I read quite a bit. Law was my favorite as you know.”

“Talk to me about that.”

“I’m afraid you’ll find it quite boring. Most find little enjoyment in what I do for fun.”

“I don’t care if it’s boring. As long as you’re enjoying yourself.” Magnus didn’t know where to start. It was such a simple request but a broad one.

“Would you like me to tell you all the ways you have infringed upon the Hippocratic oath in your time as a medic?”

“I never took an oath but go ahead.”

Once Magnus got started it was easy but he quickly ran out of cases against the young medic due to spotty records. He found a way to tangent off into case law however. The more he spoke the more relaxed he became. Knock Out was mostly quiet but every now and again he would respond. A word of encouragement or a fact of his own. It was interesting to find out how much Knock Out knew about law himself. Magnus felt himself at ease quickly. When Knock Out wasn’t on edge or on his defense he was nice and his em field had such a strange heaviness that made Magnus feel as if he was in a dream.

It had been so long since Magnus had felt like this. So long since he had let himself go for anyone even if it was as simple as just speaking about personal interests with another mech. Let alone an ex-Con. It felt wrong. Dangerous. Knock Out was untrustworthy. His loyalty, his secrets, perhaps even his power could be bought as long as it put him on top and out of harm’s way. Magnus couldn’t imagine fighting against this power. Combiners were one thing they were just massive brutes but Knock Out and other genesisformers created whole new mechs. Dangerous and deadly. Perhaps this was for the best. Perhaps despite Knock Out’s fear and his own reluctance they would be better off together perhaps even staying together forever. Where Knock Out could be safe and everyone else would be safe from him.

Magnus found his free servo dipping lower on Knock Out’s frame. Letting it rest on the smaller mechs hip. He pulled the medic flush to him again. The slight distance that had formed had been a comfort but now it was an annoyance. He wanted this to work now. He wanted to see if he could stand it. If he could keep Cybertron safe. If he could make Knock Out happy. Even at the cost of himself.

Knock Out instantly noticed Magnus' change of spark. He intertwined their digits, rubbing small circles into Magnus’ knuckles, and put a little more flash into the dance, at every turn teasingly grinding his hip against Magnus’ codpiece. Despite the initial irritation of the action Magnus was willing to play along. The attention was...nice if highly inappropriate. Knock Out’s entire being was highly inappropriate though so in all honesty this was tame for him.

Ultra Magnus was a bit shocked and appalled at himself for getting so warm from some slight teasing but as the heat in his spark swelled to almost painful he caught on just quick enough that Knock Out was initiating Synergy with him. Magnus let his chest plates open and spun the smaller mech around so their sparks could meet. The brilliant glow and intense heat were startling but Magnus held on until they were gone. Until everything was gone. No. Not gone just...different.

Magnus had expected fusion to be immensely painful. Having that much energy. That much change. How couldn’t it? Magnus put his scientific inquiries behind him for more pressing matters. He could still feel Knock Out in his servos. He could hear him mumbling. Nothing however was happening. The world around them was dark and cold. Ultra Magnus called out to the other mech slightly afraid something had gone wrong. “Knock Out are you alright.”

“Fine.” He sounded pained.

“You don’t sound alright.”

“This takes a lot of energy. You’re already closing up on me.”

“How do I help?”

“We need to focus on the objective. That’s all we have going for us. I won’t be able to keep us together longer than that.”

“I thought you said I couldn’t treat you like a weapon.”

“If you’re going to throw my words at me then fine. Think of it as cops and criminals. Good cop. Bad cop. We give Bruticus the beatdown then we pick up Starscream and lock him up. I should be able to talk some sense into him after a little schmoozing.”

“I wasn’t trying to do that. I was trying to show you that we’re on the same side. For however long you feel like staying with us.”

“Really you’re still on this even now! I’m not leaving.”

“I know your type Knock Out. The moment one of your bounty hunter friends comes planetside you’d leave.”

“I could have left already if I wanted by your logic! I could have even left before then! I don’t need anyone to do what I want whenever I want. I’ll stay as long as I feel appreciated but I might stay even past that just to spite you.” Magnus tightened his grip around Knock Out.

“Is that so? I really hope that’s true. I would so appreciate the chance to establish trust between us. You would be the first Con to ever laud that accomplishment.”

“Oh what an honor.” Magnus could practically feel Knock Out's sarcasm like this, he could certainly feel Knock Out’s servos exploring his frame, leaving slightly painful scratches up and down his chassis. He should have known better than to play the Con at his own game.

“We should actually do something.”

“Didn’t realize this meant nothing to you. I’m not surprised.” Magnus sighed. This was going to be a grind.

* * *

 

Starscream wasn’t prepared for what came after him. He had heckled the Autobots in the hopes of getting Knock Out’s attention but the medic hadn’t even been there. Too busy out scrounging in the streets of Praxus to see the seeker's amazing resurgence. Well perhaps not so amazing. He still couldn’t fly thanks to his injuries. Maybe all he wanted was the doctor to feel comfortable enough to come back to his side. Now thanks to his bragging he had some….monstrosity beating down his combiner. Starscream couldn’t even understand how Bruticus was losing! Sure whatever was attacking him was terrifying but it was still half the Combiner’s size!

The creature let out an ungodly screech as it clung to the combiner and tore Bruticus apart by his seams. His components falling to the rust and rubble and Before the creatures six optics turned to the building Starscream found himself hiding in. “Primus no.” He needed to get to Blast Off or Vortex quickly. Starscream jumped through the window and used his thrusters to glide to the roof of a lower building. If he was fast enough he could outsmart whatever monster the Autobots sent after him. Only there was no outsmarting the monster. It seemed be able to track his movements and now that it was done with Bruticus Starscream had it’s full attention. The frantic seeker watched it scale and leap off of buildings as it followed. Screeching and laughing lowly. As it neared it called out to him in a spark-chilling drawl.

“Starrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrscreeeeeeeeeeeeeam. Stop running.”

“I rather face my trial in the PIT!” In the time it took the Jet to call back the monster was somehow upon him. It’s massive golden claws fell down on him and pinned him in place.

“Tooooo eeeeeasy~” Starscream could only stare at the skeletal mech as it crouched flatly over him. It’s thin digigrade legs bending unnaturally low. The piercing red gaze of it’s helm freezing him in place as it’s dripping maw filled with sharp metal pikes dribbled acid on the street around him. The creatures em field crushing him further and filling him with dread and despair. It made Starscream want to cry. Actually shed tears. Then it smiled and laughed and wrapped its rake like digits around him and raised him up to speak. In that moment it was hauntingly beautiful. Alien. With it’s bright gold finish, strange helm and solar flare halo it looked like something special. Cosmic. Like a god. Then it spoke and it returned to being a demon. “I Sentinel Alecto find you Starscream of Vos under arrest for war crimes committed to the Autobots of Cybertron and the people of Earth. How do you plead?”

“PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF PRIMUS DON’T KILL ME I’LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!” The Monster laughed at him again and as it did it’s face scrunched in an almost cute manner.

“Oh no no no no no no no. You deserve to rot in a cell. All alone. Where you belong. Where you can’t hurt anybody.”

“DON’t-” Starscream’s voice cut out for a moment. “Don’t I at least get a trial?”

“Yes. That date will be a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long ways away though. Plenty of time for you to think about the poor choices you’ve made.”

“Oh well... I suppose that’s not…. terrible. I will request medical service when we get back. Those Predacons did a number to me. I may look top of the line but well...I want to see Knock Out! You do know him? They’ve introduced you yes?”

“We’re well acquainted. Your request is acknowledged. Now it's time for lights out.”

“Lights out?” Starscream only got to enjoy a moment of confusion before Alecto’s talons transformed to syringes and four massive needles plunged into the jets back to inject him with bright orange tranquilizer.The jet screamed but it fell on deaf audials. It only took another second for the lanky mech to go limp anyway. Still the jet’s screams stirred something in the fusion.

“What was that? He wasn’t even fighting back!” Magnus felt Knock Out’s talons on his spectral construct of a face. Their rather wild moment ruined by the leader’s sudden brutality. Magnus held Knock Out’s face despite the pain in his own and completely ignoring the medics anger grabbed at the Knock Out’s aft with his free servo again to elicit a shocked gasp from the medic.

“Our old friend has returned.” Knock Out could hear the sound of t-cogs working in unison and saw the rising cloud of dust in the distance.

“That was fast. Usually Bruticus can’t last a few hours or so let alone reform during a battle. He’s not exactly energy efficient. He must be pretty pissed that he got beat by a small fry like us. Let’s make sure he doesn’t get a third round.”

“Hoorah. Time to wreck and rule.” Knock Out couldn’t help but laugh at how Magnus damn near whispered the words in his audial. 

Knock Out couldn’t believe that the usual stoic Magnus was even attempting to play any game with him. Let alone the game he was playing. “I think I bring out the worst in you. Sir.”

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Hmmm you sure about that?”

“Oh yes.”

They stashed Starscream away someplace safe before turning back to the problem in front of them. Bruticus was on the defense now. As much as his personality would allow at least.

“Come here compact and let me make you even smaller!” The monster in front of Bruticus didn’t respond. It just laughed and ran around in a circle in the rubble of the street egging the titan into making the first move. “Aw what little Autobot’s tired and scared after one fight!”

Alecto chittered and cawed at the titan.

“COME ON YOU UGLY RUNT!” Bruticus’ patience broke and they rushed the other mech. Alecto bounded back and ducked under a building the combiner had smashed to the ground, using what he could to scale to a better height. Bruticus followed tearing down whatever Alecto landed on. As the slower mech though they quickly lost the beast amongst the ruined city.

“STOP RUNNING RAT! SHOW YOUR MUG!” Alecto purred loudly as they stared down at the Combiner from their perch Bruticus none the wiser. The sound not even audible over the wind and Bruticus’ own taunts.

It was a quick jump down onto the titan. Alecto’s talons digging into just the right seam. Bruticus howled as he felt himself falling apart. He wasn’t going to let the little Bot pull the same trick twice. He grabbed the beast by it’s thin middle and squeezed as hard as he could. The satisfying crunch of metal and howls of pain filling his audials. “Not so tough now eh runt?” Bruticus smugly smiled looking down and saw the mech in his his servo flash and glow ,almost melt, as it struggled. Only a second or two before solidifying again. The Combiner chuckled deeply “Well, well, well. Brother! No wonder. Where are your seams. LET ME RETURN THE COURTESY THAT YOU SHOWED ME!”

 Alecto opened their maw and sprayed a thick sticky coat of acid over Buticus’ face. The titan roared as he threw the other mech away to explore his wounds. As the gestalt dealt with their situation Alecto dealt with their own. Panting and whimpering as they explored their leaking seams. They snarled at Bruticus as the titan cleared off his face then transformed with a pained whine. Bruticus took a step back in shock then laughed again ugly and booming. “You ain’t no brother! You’re something...more. One of the originals, the naturals. Didn’t know the Bots had any of you. Thought Megatron got all of them then got them promptly deceased. You a traitor? Who you got in there with you? Why don’t you show me!”

In his standard form Alecto was bigger, taller. He had a certain muchness that his alt didn’t have. A much more Magnus side to things for those who knew what they were looking at. In stance and demeanor at least. There was a certain pride and yet still a ruthlessness and rawness to Alecto. Sentinel wore a long cape of spines and an elegant helm, the sunlight halo still embedded in it behind all the flat curves of metal and an intricate filigree comb. His electric blue accents glinted in the light as he moved and the vivid black soaked up any light like a void. “I’d advise….. you…. to disband. You’re all getting charged….. with destruction of Autobot property. You can choose whether…... you go back alive…... or not.”

“Ohh look it speaks! Ditch the fool you’re glued to and join us brother. Nothing will stop us then!”

“I…. can not be swayed… by pitiful bribes. This is your…. last... warning.”

“OR WHAT?”

“It…. seems…. you would like to see.” Alecto ran at the Combiner ducking and darting away from his swipes to get behind the larger mech. They transformed their servos releasing the hard light blades of their twin trench knives. “I’ll take you in... piece…. by piece if... necessary.” Bruticus kicked at his side catching the smaller mech and sending them into a nearby building. Laughing mirthfully as Alecto started to fall apart again.

“What am I seeing? You two falling apart? You’re just not good for each other and now you’re injured. Bet the standard in you didn’t know that when you got a bad connection the Genisis mech takes most of the beating. Heh he he...idiot. Unlike us we split the difference. Don’t get me wrong standard you’re going to be hurting if you get out of this but there’s a certain pain the likes of you will never feel. So how are those tanks holding up?”

“It’s unbelieveable…. how much fools like….. to talk. Are you stalling... because you’re….afraid?”

Bruticus sneered down at the rubble, at the dying pitiful mech in the rust. “Just waiting to see what pops out of you. The minute you fall apart that Genesis is ours whether they want it or not.” Bruticus leaned down and rested on a knee. “Maybe you’re right though. Maybe I shouldn’t wait. Maybe I should do the poor brother a favor and pull you apart.” As Bruticus bent closer to his prize he felt something sink into his optic then the burning tickle of electricity as it raced through him. He hadn’t expected the runt to have another weapon. Bruticus roared as he tore the weapon from his optic but it was already too late. The titan crashed to the street out cold a few moments later.

Alecto stumbled over to his staff and rested his weight on it. “Works... every…. Time.” With what strength they had left they dismantled Bruticus dragging Onslaught behind them. 

“Without Onslaught they can’t do slag.”

Magnus stood alone now in the void looking at the road in front of him. Knock Out... somewhere. He had grown distant after they almost fell apart and despite searching and calling for Knock Out to return the medic seemed unable or unwilling. "Knock Out rest. Put what focus you have left into keeping us together and our auto-repair. Yours is much much more efficient and reliable than mine.” Magnus didn’t like how soft and ragged the medic sounded. The slight constant pain in his spark, instead of getting worse, was starting to fade away.

“Don’t forget Starscream he has the most inefficient engine I’ve ever seen. I’m sure he would fall into stasis if his tank even dipped past fifty percent.” Knock Out had been at this since transforming. Just spouting off random related information and concerns as if he was just reminding himself instead of speaking to Magnus.

“I’m going to get him right now.”

“Don’t let Onslaught wake up. He’s a lot smarter alone. He’ll get away.”

“I am aware of his history please just rest. You feel so far away and it’s starting to scare me.”

“Magnus... I don’t know if I can. I don’t know what will happen. We might fall apart.” Magnus’s audials prickled at the sound of his own name. He felt cold all of a sudden. He didn’t want them to fall apart. His plan had been to keep Knock Out with him for as long as he could stand but... things hadn’t gone as planned. He hadn’t had all the information then. He hadn’t understood the repercussions. No. He needed to do what was best for Knock Out. His...teammate.

“Knock Out if you can’t hold us together I will get all of us back to HQ. We can call for a bridge.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way Ultra Magnus but... I think I’ll die without you.” A sudden burst of pain seized Magnus spark sending him to his knees as the world through their shared optics began to go fuzzy and dark.

“KNOCK OUT! STAY WITH ME! I can help you. I can protect you” Magnus pleas fell into the void and died. Not even an echo to reassure the leader that he had even said anything at all but the pain died as quickly as it came. Hopefully a good sign. Still Ultra Magnus panted and screamed for the medic to respond but the void in his processor, in his spark, was silent.

* * *

 

Somehow they made it back to the Nemesis. Somehow Alecto had managed to lock up Starscream and Onslaught. Somehow they had managed to stay together but something felt….different. It had been hours since Knock Out had gone silent. Hours since...something happened to Magnus. Hours since they found each other again. Hours since things started to be different.

Alecto had gone to retrieve rations for the prisoners and when he returned Starscream had his servos swiping through the spaces between the hard light bars and was whining away and screaming venomously at any Vehicon that had passed and quickly shied away in shame. “DISGUSTING TRAITORS THE LOT OF YOU!” Alecto knelt down and placed a generously large cube into one of the clawing servos. Starscream took it and immediately started to drink. Taking a long sip before turning his anger back to the strange Autobot. “And you! I thought I told you I wanted to see Knock Out immediately! I need medical attention!”

Alecto stopped mid step and turned back to look at the jet. The bots optics were hauntingly empty now and sad to the point of unnerving. Starscream had to shake the look off. “I’m afraid I can’t help with that Starscream. Knock Out isn’t available at this time.”

Starscream nearly dropped his fuel as he slammed his frame against the bars attempting to glare up at the strange Autobot. “WHat do you mean he’s unavailable? That’s not code for jokes on you we’ve already murdered him is it?”

“No.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“I mean that he is unavailable. I can not bring him to see you. I can look at your wound’s if you like but you will have to tell me where they are. As far as I can see you look fine Starscream.”

“Stop saying my name like that it’s creeping me out! Who even are you?”

“My name is Sentinel Alecto. I have already given you this information.”

“THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!”

“Primus Screamer. I don’t know how a mech can be one of the smartest and at the same time the denseist but you manage it brilliantly.” Onslaught had perked up at the smell of fuel and was also waiting at the bars of his cell servos out. Alecto passed him his cube before standing back to watch the discourse.

“Oh put it on mute Onslaught we wouldn’t be in this mess if you had done your damn job! You are the strongest gestalt we have how did you lose!”

“Well Screamer it’s hard taking on a mech who knows all of your weak points. Ain’t that right Doc? Have you been with this bot that long that you’ve already lost yourself? What happened to Breakdown? Menasor? What happened to them?”

“Refrain from bringing up Breakdown in the future if you would like to keep your level of comfort in this cell.”

“Why do you care about Breakdown you’re an Autobot. Oh and by the way Onslaught Breakdown’s dead. Now would you please tell me what you’re cryptically getting at because if you think you’re getting at what I think you’re getting at then you’ve lost it.” Starscream didn’t like the way the Autobot monstrosity glared at him. The jet was starting to like the strange mechs beast form better.

“ Well now it makes sense. What is it that you think I’m getting at?”

“I’m not playing your stupid games! As your superior officer I demand you tell me!”

“Fine, gotta make things boring. Somewhere inside this overgrown service drone is Knock Out. I don’t know who the other standard is but I’m guessing it can be figured out by process of elimination.”

“What are you even talking about? Knock Out can’t combine with anyone! Knock Out could barely heal mechs let alone anything that might have been a useful battle tactic!”

“You do remember Six-point right? I know he didn’t get much action on planet but Pit Bruticus and him might as well be gods on Salterxon. Took down that military regime and replaced it with our own. Not like they knew anything about that. At least we treated them better than their own. That place is still giving out resources and Primus the company! Some of the prettiest mechs I’ve ever seen.”

“Can the war stories I remember Six-point. Shockwave just shoved another sucker onto that monster Menasor and evened him out a bit. So what?”

“Who do you think that sucker was? Come on do you really think a mech like Knock Out fell for a mech like Breakdown by chance and love at first sight? Breakdown was an warweary loony before the Cons got to him and he only got worse from there. Also evened him out a bit? Menasor couldn’t even speak whole sentences. Six-point almost defected to being his own rival faction and other mechs were behind him! Me and the guys included! We thought Megs was going to run screaming for Prime after they threw that building at him.”

“Oh yes....that. I think I got pretty bad processor trauma that fight so I lost that chunk of time. Was that the last time he formed?”

“The last time under orders. After that things started thinning out. I haven’t had the luxury of another combiners company in a couple of millennia.”

“What are you talking about? You were with the other Combaticons when you arrived home!”

“Oh those guys don’t count.”

“Whatever. KNOCK OUT! IF YOU’RE IN THERE- Wait where did he go?” Alecto had wandered off at some point, bored of the two Cons bickering.

“Good job Starscream now I gotta wait to figure out the mystery.”

* * *

 

The other Autobots were even less excited about seeing Alecto and the fact that they were still seeing them after almost two weeks was starting to worry everyone. “Something’s wrong with them it’s not just me being selfish this time alright!”

“Relax Bee we all agree with you. Any mech that didn’t live under a rock their whole life can tell that something’s wrong with them.” Arcee gave Bee a swift pat on the shoulder to calm him down.

“Well I don’t know I think that you’re all just being a bit judgmental about Shockwave 2.0,”

“Ay, Jackie!” Wheeljack laughed as he ducked under Bulkhead’s punishing servo.”

“But Bulkhead he’s bigger and less emotional than the original and he only builds weird artistic scrap metal sculptures. Way less deadly than cloning ancient Predacons. He’s perfect.” Wheeljack laughed louder at Bee’s disgusted scowl.

“What do you think they’re even doing in there? Like Maybe it’s just a lot better than whatever you guys were doing.” Everyone looked to Smokescreen as if he had a hole through his head.

“What do you think we do when we’re with him? We can’t even see each other in there so it’s not like we can just have a good old frag in the ether.” Arcee did all the glaring for her and Bee.

“I never said you did. You jumped to that yourself.”

“Yeah Smokescreen because I know you.”

“Stop talking about that stuff! Listen the only reason I wanted to talk about all this is because they’re not doing so hot anymore. I’m sure Ultra Magnus had some thought in his processor but it went in a bad way. I caught them in their alt form rolling around in the rust biting at themselves today and when I went to see what was up about it they nearly bit my arm off. Not to mention we’re running low on energon and unless we want to call home to Ratchet we need to do something. Also Starscream and Onslaught are getting real annoying and we have no idea what to do with them.” The whole team groaned and nodded in agreement at Bulkhead’s concerns.

“What are we going to do about it though? How do we force mechs apart after they’ve become one new mech.”

“We could try to get them to do something they would disagree on. The most common reason me and K.O broke up is because we couldn’t reach an agreement and we got tired of each other.”

“Nice suggestion Arcee but I don’t think they’re doing any talking up there besides what could we possible have them do? “

“I don’t know but the only other choice is to beat them till they separate and they spit acid in beast form so to the Pit if i’m going to fight that.”

“I think we have to Arcee unless….do you think one of you could like drag Knock Out away from Magnus to be with you?”

“Interesting theory Wheeljack but no. Don’t think so.”

“Maybe I can talk to them. Show them that we need them separately. I know none of us have had much luck but if I’m little more desperate I think I can get through to Knock Out.”

“Good luck with that Bee. I’ve been trying to get Magnus out for three cycles now. No matter how many rules I break the Sentinel does not care. Desperation might work though. How about we blow off an arm. Say there was an accident. This place turned to slag real fast thanks to Bruticus.”

“Jackie might be onto something how about we all take some damage. It’ll probably draw out both of them!”

“Bulkhead! None of us are going to seriously injure ourselves!” Arcee glared at the two wreckers for even putting the idea in the younger mechs’ heads. “Bee why don’t you try getting to Knock Out. He responds to you and Smokescreen more but….maybe faking a minor injury wouldn’t hurt. Something easy to fix to draw him out. Just pop something loose.”

* * *

 

Alecto was out in the pavilion looking vacantly at the rain when Bee found him. The chill high winds making his cape and plates billow and rattle. Sitting stock still looking so forlorn they looked more like a statue than a living mech. Bee clutched at his wrist as he approached . He had carefully pried up a set springs making it go all floppy and uncontrollable. Hopefully Knock Out would care enough.

“Umm hey Alecto.” No response. “Alecto! Hey! Little help.” Still nothing. “HEY! I’m injured. Can you even hear me?”

“Affirmative Bumblebee I hear you.”

“Well then why did you ignore me? What’s your problem.”

“I think you know what my problem is just as well as you know what your problem is.”

Bee felt his spark start to crackle wildly. “What are you talking about. Look I think I just strained my wrist training and popped some springs. I just need Knock Out for a second.”

“I can’t do that Bumblebee. My existence is far too important for me to allow you to jeopardize. You caused your wounds intentionally you can fix them just as easily.”

Bee shifted uneasily under the gestalts heavy gaze. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just hurt myself training. Knock Out told me to always come to him even for small stuff because he’d rather just do a quick fix than have me injure myself further and make his job harder by fiddling around.”

Alecto didn’t seem convinced. A scowl now on his impassive face. “I know you and the team find issue in me but you simply do not understand. I’m necessary. I’m required. I know that you and the others want to kill me and I’m afraid that’s something I can’t allow to happen.”

“Kill you! Where did you get that idea?”

“What do you think becomes of me when Knock Out and Ultra Magnus are no longer together? I go away. I die. I need to live Bumblebee. It’s the best thing for everyone. You’ll see.”

“No it’s not! We need you separated!”

“You don’t understand. You aren’t listening to me Bumblebee.”

“Listening! You don’t listen! Besides how can I listen when you don’t say anything! All you do is sit and sulk!

“Bee please. You don’t understand. I am more important than-”

“More important than what? More important than the team? More important than Cybertron? More important than the cause? We need our leader and our medic. I’ve got rust on the back of my plates from all this rain and no weather coating. Bulkhead’s been in constant pain for a week now! We’re running low on energon. There’s still a giant hole in the HQ from Bruticus which thanks to the constant rain is making a bigger hole and more holes in lower floors, the entire first two levels of the HQ are flooded because the Vehicons haven’t been able to clear out the drainage systems and to top it off we’ve had six calls from incoming ships in the past two weeks and we don’t know what to tell them. We have no plan. We need Ultra Magnus. We need Knock Out! We don’t need you! We don’t even like you!”

Bee hadn’t been expecting such a hard hit or any hit really. The young warrior was sent flying into the wall by the force of the blow, a sharp crack of fractured plating echoing in the shelter. The scratches on Bee’s face and neck deep enough to draw energon. The chilling whine of transformation drowning out Bee’s groans. Alecto’s beast mode formed in the space, long and alien, his fangs bared and already drooling as the beast growled. “What about them? What about what they need!” Alecto drew closer his growl now a menacing groaning chatter. “They need me.” Alecto rubbed his frame against Bee, the spines leaving long thin scratches in Bees paint, “And I thought you were a grown mech? No loooonnnnger a scout. Smokescreen? Almost a Priiiiiiime. The rest of the team? They can think for themselvvvvvvves. The issue about dependency Bee is that it has to be equal for it to work or someone gets hurt and I don’t need you or the team. Not anymore.” Bee felt his spark about to go supernova in his chest. What was this? How could this thing ever come from Magnus and Knock Out? “ But let me help you Bumblebee. Let me heal you. Let me put you out of your MISERY!” Alecto turned in a flash and went for Bee’s wounded neck. Bee quickly brought out his working stinger and fired on instinct. The first set of shots didn’t do anything and Bee screamed as Alecto’s fangs tore into him.

A chorus of frantic screams soon joined his and show of laserfire shortly after. It was Bulkhead’s wrecking ball that finally saved him though. A swift punch to Alecto’s middle forced them to jump away screeching in pain. The barrage of gunfire continuing long enough to send the mech running off into the empty city. Bulkhead’s large shaking servos wrapped around Bee’s neck, trying desperately to keep everything together. “Hey Bee I got you. Arcee’s getting Ratchet right now. You’re going to be fine.”

“I’ve had worse Bulk.”

“Yeah well there ain’t no cybermatter to dunk you in this time. This one you have to live with.

“I feel like an idiot Bulk.”

“Why? You didn’t do anything but tell them the truth.”

“I guess but he got so mad out of nowhere. I should have known when to shut my mouth.”

“How could you have known if he flipped like a switch? Don’t worry about them Bee. Once we get you fixed up we’ll think of something.”

* * *

 

That something ended up being Onslaught. A Combiner should understand another combiner after all and Onslaught was a master strategist in his own right. The only problem was actually getting the lazy mech to do anything.

“Come on Onslaught. You want to get out of here you need to help us.”

“Kid you put those two idiots together they're your problem.”

“We’ll get nasty. We’re running low on energon so you’ll be the first to starve.”

“Correction you were running out of energon. I saw that dumpy medic of yours stalking around. I know he saved your afts.”

“What about your team? I’m sure they’re not doing so well all alone.”

“They got Swindle. As long as they don’t let the little slagger get too full of himself they’ll be fine.”

“Didn’t he try to sell you as cheap labor once?”

“Accidents happen. We learn.”

“Onslaught please! We can do this the hard way.”

“Oh yess Onslaught please! I’m done being in this cell you lazy sack of sprew.”

“Shut it Starscream no one was talking to you.”

“Ay ay ay now Autobot don’t yell at your elders that way. Screamer’s got a point. I’m going nuts in this five by fifteen myself. So I suppose you let me out FOR GOOD, treat me nice and maybe I can come up with a plan for you to take out your boss.”

"WHAT ABOUT ME!"

"Oh and take Screamer here out on a leash if ya have to every now and again so he doesn't start to rot."

“Done but a little show of goodwill first.”

“Goodwill? I’m the one in the cell?”

“Tell me about your fight. What did you do to them? Alecto”

“What we had to in the moment. That runt was tougher than we thought. Trust Knock Out to make such a bad connection work so well. What I wouldn’t give to get him on Bruticus Pit just on myself. I think we'd make a good team what do you think?”

“That’s not an answer! Was he the same mech throughout the fight? He was..empty when we last spoke and might as well have been feral when he attacked me. Was he like that when he fought you.”

“For the most part part but when he was fighting he was definitely better connected. After a few solid blows from me and the boys though he went down fast. I don’t know how it exactly works with natural combiner gestalt but I don’t think there’s much going on up there.”

“How is that possible if they’re still together? How does something like this happen?”

“We gave them quite a beating. That beast form of theirs was scrawny. We crushed one of their tanks but they managed to keep going so that meant they had another one. Kept them seperate instead of combining them together you know? If the one we crushed was Knock Out’s well….the poor medic doesn’t really handle pain that well. Like I told Ultra Magnus the poor slagger holding everything together takes most of the damage. That’s why bad connections are so dangerous to work with. Especially with standards. As for their attitude well they obviously want to stay together because of their injuries but when you’re dealing with combined sparks, spirits? Some are still stronger than others. So let’s say Knock Out’s too weak he starts to fade leaving Magnus dominant well you would think you’d just have a slightly off version of your leader but that’s not how it works. He wants to stay together he wants to be what he is with Knock Out but he can’t because Knock Out isn’t there. So what happens to someone when they’re not what they want to be, what they are, but they can’t go back to being who they used to be? Life’s mystery right there. It’s hard to explain to a standard but essentially you break in someway inside. The connection kind of works but some slag just doesn’t want to go through.”

Bee’s spark dimmed. Knock Out was hurt? Magnus was...lost? They were broken? It didn’t make sense but Onslaught knew better than anyone else at the moment. “Alright fine so what do we do?”

“Well kid let me out of the cell and I will tell you.”

* * *

 

Bee had expected Onslaught to be a problem but unlike the most of the Con’s Combiners the Combaticons were sensible mechs separately. He had assured the team that his plan to separate the deranged gestalt would go perfectly so of course it didn’t. They had cornered the mech in newly built building but had quickly lost him.to a chase that had split most of them up. Onslaught’s annoying voice echoed over the comms to all of them.“Come on Bot’s put a little more effort into it. My team would have had him down for the call by now.”

“Hey Onslaught how about you put it on mute and help us then”

“Sorry Arcee you know I don’t like getting my mitts dirty. Just tell me when one of you idiots finds the little beastie and then maybe I’ll think about throwing a punch or two.”

“I think I’ve got him. Bring the disrupter to the alley between the old shopping district. Big green building.“

“Got it. Don’t go too hard on him now Wheeljack.” Onslaught headed back from Bee’s comm and stretched his arms. With his serovs still bound loosely in front of him it wasn’t as satisfying but it did the job. The cold was already getting to him. “Come on kid let’s get your boyfriend back.”

Bee scowled at the older mech. “He’s not my boyfriend. I would just like a new weather coating as I’m sure all the Vehicons. Some of us weren’t forged for this weather. Why are the Winter rains so acidic anyway? The summer rains are amazing!”

“Couldn’t tell ya. I was a soldier not a scientist. Ask Starscream, but I don’t think he dealt with environmental science so he might not know either.”

“What sort of science did he do?”

“I have no idea? I’ve never sat down to get to know him he’s got too much processor damage so he just sort of wanders in a discussion. Starts complaining. I don't like too much gripe myself.”

“Is there any Con you know that doesn’t have processor damage?”

“Don’t get sassy kid. Being a Con wasn’t easy. Long hours. Little payoff but at least everyone was doing the same and getting the same.”

“Yeah Knock Out didn’t see it that way.”

“That ain’t the same. He should have complained earlier. Now he complains to you. Thing about medic’s is there all different. They’re all good at something and Knock Out was real good at making mechs feel like they mattered. Whether they lived or died through their injuries. Still Knock Out made you want to live. He made you want to keep going. I still got a few scars from those talons myself. Primus, he just makes you want to wring his neck when you’re down but once you’re back up again…..he’s your lucky star.”

“Sounds like Knock Out. We’re here.” The two mechs picked up the pace and Onslaught fished the disrupter from his subspace. Wheeljack had cornered Alecto to an ally and was using his whip to keep him in place at a distance. “Onslaught.”

“Here kid. Press the trigger, when he starts falling apart stop or you’ll snuff the both of them.”

“WHAT? You didn’t say this could kill them!”

“Just do it!” Onslaught ran in and clocked Alecto in the face sending the beast stumbling to the street. “COME ON KID!” Bee found the trigger to the weapon and fired. A sharp piercing whine filled the air. Whatever the weapon did it hurt everyone. Bee watched Wheeljack clutch at his chest as he fell to his knees. Onslaught not fairing much better but managing to power though and the longer Bee left the disrupter on the more his on chest began to hurt. Why did Knock Out just have this sitting broken in a drawer?

Luckily Alecto was affected too probably even worse so. They were screaming and snarling, flinging acid drool in every direction and finally, FINALLY they started to fall apart. Onslaught reached into the glowing mass and slammed his fist into the bigger mass before letting out an ungodly scream, his servo melting away. The mission was a success. Alecto lay in two pieces. Knock Out and Ultra Magnus. Bee smashed the disrupter against the metal of the street till it stopped, too pained to bother finding the off switch.

“PIT YOU SLAGGERS BETTER TREAT ME RIGHT AFTER THIS!” Onslaught clutched his ruined wrist to his chest, screaming over the sound the ringing in his own audials.

“Oh rest assured you’ll get what you deserve right here and now.” Magnus quick recovery had been unexpected. All Onslaught could do was stumble back far enough to stall the waiting blow a few seconds before Ultra Magnus bore down on him.

“GET YOUR LUNATIC OFF ME OR I’LL COME BACK AND TRAMPLE YOUR STUPID CLUBHOUSE AND TAKE YOUR PRETTY BOYFRIEND FOR MYSELF!” Onslaught’s request for backup didn’t stop the Con from throwing his own punches. Landing a hard enough blow to crack one of Magnus’ optics. Wheeljack had finally recovered and with Bee’s help managed to tear Magnus off of the Con. This only redirected the Leaders blind rage to Bee.

“YOU! SON I GAVE YOU AN ORDER! ONE ORDER AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO THINK YOU KNOW BETTER!” Bee clawed at the servo wrapped around his intake small spurts of energon already breaking free through Magnus’ digits.”YOU ARE UNDER MY COMMAND! YOU FOLLOW MY ORDERS. I AM NOT OPTIMUS. I DO NOT TOLERATE LOOSE CANNONS. SO IF YOU DISRESPECT ME AGAIN YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF A DISHONORABLE DISCHARGE AND A SWIFT KICK IN THE DIRECTION OF THE WASTES!” Ultra Magnus good optic was glowing with rage. His EM field like it’s own atmosphere crushing Bee’s spark without mercy. “DO YOU EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS AT STAKE? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU’VE DONE? NO! YOU'RE JUST A SELFISH LITTLE BRAT WHO-”

“HEEL BOY. HEEL! Before you do something you might regret.” Magnus turned to the sound, letting Bee drop to the floor. Wheeljack had Knock Out propped up against his shoulder. The medic looked terrible and leaked energon with every shudder but he was alive and making inappropriate comments as usual. “Ahh do you see that look in his optic? I got him to care about me. Told you I could break him. Didn’t expect it to be this soon but doesn’t matter pay up Wheeljack.” Wheeljack didn’t get a chance to respond. Magnus was already stalking over a strange determination in his optic.

“We need to get you to Ratchet.” Magnus swiftly picked up Knock Out, positioning him comfortably in the crook of an arm before stalking away. Ratchet’s voice already screaming from his comm.

The rest of the team stood awkwardly in the rain unsure whether they wanted to follow the leader just yet but sure that they no longer wanted to be in the rain. Onslaught eventually broke the silence.“What the blazes about us? Fraggin’ slag eatin’ cordmonger.” Onslaught's words were slurred thanks to his dislocated jaw but that didn’t stop the bots from agreeing with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you get the references then you're really ol- just like old sci fi. Went with a Tyrest vibe for Alecto and despite being a more normal looking mech. he just looks creepy. Think a bit bayfilm/ultron. Skeletal and machiney. He's technically a terrorcon but old G1 kind not zombie/vampire. Also his beast mode is his preferred form so technically his robot form is his alt and it's very hard for them to hold together. Once they form a better connection that changes. They can hold their bot form together longer and they get a more whole personality and are more of a rouge with rules/Macgyver type. Wheeljack likes them quite a bit. As always kudos comments and requests if you like.


	4. The good old days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to rewrite this three times so sorry about me being picky. Backstory adventure will continue next chapter and then more action if you guys want it. Feel free to throw me another bot you want to see fused with Knock Out.

Things eventually settled down and despite battle wounds and a few chemical burns from being out in the rain for so long most of the team were healed and got back to work. Ratchet certainly had his work cut out for him thanks to Knock Out’s injuries but Bee was pretty sure the old mech was actually happy to be helping again. Even if he did have to weatherproof almost fifty dozen Vehicons. Thanks to Bee’s neck wound being gross and crusty still he was instructed to take it easy which he managed to do for about an hour before helping Arcee bail out the flooded floors. He was caught almost immediately by Ratchet and dragged off to the medbay. “Ratchet come on! It’s just my neck and it’s just all slaggy it’s fine!”

“It is not fine! Now sit here and read or... here! Rafael managed to put a bunch of games on this reformatted Datapad for you. Enjoy beating up pixels.” Bumblebee caught the thin datapad Ratchet tossed him and booted it up. Fiddling with the buttons and the control sticks before they were even able to do anything.

“What are you serious he made this for me? He’s getting really good at engineering.”

“Yes well he has an excellent mentor.”

“You can’t build stuff like this Ratchet.”

“Whah- Well no not specifically but I did teach him the basics.” 

“Sure Ratchet.” Bumblebee took a moment to search through the extensive list of games before picking some sort of puzzle game. “This is uh fun and all but I was hoping Knock Out would be here too. We haven’t talked since everything. I don’t think i’ve even seen him since you patched me up after Magnus’ rough handling.”

“That’s because I forced him into stasis but of course the dampeners wore off when I was out of the room and he ran. He’s locked himself in his room determined to heal his own wounds from now on.”

“Is he ok?”

“Oh he’s fine. I didn’t even bother with welding. He had plenty of salvaged metal so I just replaced his tank for him but he’s covered in hairline fractures and I didn’t want him making anything worse. He just flipped out on me. Medics are the worst patients Bee. Once you know what you’re doing you just can’t stand the way anyone else does it.”

“Yeah you would know. I remember that one time the wind bent your door so bad Arcee had to help you fix it. You didn’t have anything nice to say.” Bee could see a soft blush creep up the medic’s face as he humphed and grumbled under his breath.“Could I have permission to go hang out with him?”

“Only if you force him to drink this.” Ratchet dug around in a small refrigerator and pulled out a cube of energon. It had gone almost lavender with the supplements Ratchet had mixed in.

“Challenge accepted. Thanks Ratchet.” Bee tucked his new toy into his subspace grabbed the cube of energon and headed off. He had expected to find the medic alone just relaxing in his quarters but as he neared the room he heard another boisterous voice coming from the space. Bee assumed it was Onslaught who had been given free roam after Ratchet shoved a tracking chip in him and saddled him with a pair of inhibitor cuffs but when he put in the code and watched the door swish open he was caught off guard by the sight of Ultra Magnus laughing his aft off. The leader’s mirth was cut short when he caught sight of Bee standing in the doorway. Two bright blue optics widened in embarrassment. So Magnus was getting his optic replaced. What did Bee care? What was so fun about that though?

Ultra Magnus didn’t stick around. He leaned over, whispered something to Knock Out, nodded a greeting to Bee, and left. Bumblebee quickly took his place. Giving the Leader enough time to distance himself before finally speaking up. “What in the Pit was that?”

“That Bumblebee was our glorious leader. Did he happen to give you processor damage during his outburst?”

“That’s not what I meant. You were replacing his optic but why was he going on as if you were throwing a party in here?” 

“Well you know I’m fun to be around.” Knock Out was discreetly trying to hide a half empty bottle of the darkest energex Bee had ever seen. That explained nothing though. Bee had seen a drunk Magnus. A drunk Magnus was just like normal Magnus except he might tell a fun war story or two and smile at an inappropriate joke. He would never let himself look any less than the stoic second in command. Always a pillar of the army.

“But it’s Magnus.” 

“Bee I spent most of my life keeping important stone faced mechs like Magnus happy.” Knock Out stood up and walked over to a small worktable to pick of a bundle of cloth and some parts. Settling back over next to Bee he unwrapped the bundle and started working in the servo inside. “Getting a mech to loosen up and laugh a little was my everyday.”

“Yeah but it’s Magnus. He still poison tests the energon you give him!”

“That’s because I poisoned his energon a few months back.”

“WHAT!” Bee nearly fell from his seat.

“Oh don’t be like that. It was nothing deadly. Just gave him a bit of engine trouble. Little smoke, little flare up. I was just trying to flirt with him a bit. Of course he didn’t appreciate it at all.”

“Flirt? Knock Out that’s not how you flirt with someone. Why would you want to flirt with Magnus anyway?”

“I’m a medic Bee what else am I supposed to do? As for why it’s all just good fun. He’s the boss now so I have to stay in his good graces. Who knows when some other Autobot medic will come home and take over. I don’t exactly like taking orders. General orders are different but when you know what you’re doing well...I don’t exactly practice medicine the way someone actually trained would do it. I don’t like being belittled just because I didn’t go to some fancy acadamy.”

“No one’s going to belittle you just because you’re kind of mean and if they do they can answer to me. I might be just a warrior but being part of Optimus’ inner circle is a pretty big deal. I have a decent standing in the army. You are going to have to get along though. I know plenty of Autobot medics who would like your style. They would condone it in public but they would appreciate it. You’re not omniscient and neither is Ratchet despite all they hype he gets. He was just sort of a pillar of hope you know. Everyone had a lot of faith in him and while it drove him to be the best he could be it also took a lot out of him. Megatron was just a scrapheap who didn’t appreciate you but that will all change now that you’re on the winning team right?”

“Aww thank you for not saying I’m not perfect.”

“That’s because you are perfect even if you do need to pick up a pathology book or two.”

“Someone’s looking for some special treatment.” Bee felt his blush wash over him. “Something other than your legs getting jittery from just sitting around?”

“I just know how to keep you happy.”

“You’ve learned well in such a short time I’m so proud.” Their conversation lulled for a bit. Bee watched Knock Out work and despite the extra glow of intoxication in his optics the medic was as precise as always. 

“Why do you even drink if you don’t let it affect you? I thought that was the point. to get to have a chance to be wild and happy or whatever. You drink energex all the time and you’re no different. Also speaking of, drink this. It’s supposed to be good for you.”

“Was that a set up? It was very bad.” Knock Out took the cube Bee passed over to him and downed it in one go. “As for your question there’s a time for getting slag faced but energex it’s... it’s different for me. I lived on energex during my time with senate. Spent a good chunk of my cycles barely knowing where I was or what I was doing but that got old fast. At some point I got an inhibitor chip installed and I learned how to act and a lot of other things thanks to dealing with those sort of mechs sober. Then when I was with the Cons during the early years when I was just a lowly medic and not CMO I was often sent out to be a spy. I’m good looking and I know how to talk to mechs. That usually involved a lot of drinking too. Then as a field medic I needed enegex just to get through the cycle and well…. now I’ve just gotten used to the feeling. I like it. Rely on it sometimes. Even now. I can turn the chip off though so if you want to see me silly we can have some fun when I’m feeling better.”

“That sounds a little backwards. You became a field medic after you gained some status? Figured they would send all the rookies out into the field.”

“Did the bots do that?”

“No which is why I figured the Cons would. Trial by fire and all that you know.”

“Well they didn’t they kept the less confidant medics up in the ships under supervision of one lead medic and every other medic who didn’t need to be coddled got sent down. When you’re the best they assume you can fix a mech in less than five minutes without any perks depending on an injury.”

“So what does that say about you?”

“That I’m fast and efficient. You can speak to that for me or were you trying to insult me?”

“Not this time but I can’t really speak for you. I’ve never really seen you work with nothing.”

“Just count yourself lucky then. Fast and efficient doesn’t mean nice.” Well that led nowhere.

“Hey do you want to see this game data pad Raf made for me? There’s a doctor game on it”

“It’s not like the last “doctor game” you made me play with the aggravating shaking control and the ridiculous cancerous robotic sea slugs now is it?”

“No. It’s even more ridiculous but come on! I watched Raf play it last time he came up and it’s fun!” 

“Feel free to show me but I would rather get this finished first if you don’t mind.”

“Yeah that’s cool. I get it.” Bumblebee pulled out his game pad and found a fun game to play waiting for Knock Out to look up or stop working but he accidentally got too sucked in, only to be dragged back to reality when he heard Knock Out snickering.

“Well it looks like you’re having fun with it at least. Humans are so lucky they have so many frivolous things. I practically lived in the lap of luxury and I still had more fun on earth than all my time then.”

“What did mechs even do for fun. All the stories I heard about were usually drinking and that’s it.”

“Well...yes that was the only fun most mechs could afford. There were movies and plays and races and dances and things. They were fun don’t get me wrong but well...I don’t know. I’m sure I had fun at the time but looking back on it well, it feels more like work. Easy work but work nonetheless. I was an escort. When I wasn’t sitting on mechs laps I was serving drinks or I was the entertainment. Kind of sours the memories a bit.” 

“Hey Knock Out?”

“I promise I’m ok Bee. I know Magnus and I were together for some time but trust me I have no desire to fuse with him again for quite some time and even then it would have to be another necessity.”

“Well...I want to say good but I guess I’ll go with you can do whatever you want once you’re better it’s your life but that’s not what I wanted to ask.”

“Then what is it?” Knock Out tried to hide the faint blue tinge to his cheeks as he worked on Onslaught’s servo.

“I don’t really know what to ask but I was sort of wondering about you. You always make it sound as if you were some anomaly but Onslaught said that the Decepticons had a few genesisformers. Talking with him about combiners and what happened and everything just makes me nervous. How were you even forged with these powers? What did Shockwave unlock from you to make the combiners? I know Magnus and Wheeljack get on you with these sorts of questions and I know you don’t like explaining to them but I don’t know….you have to admit it’s interesting.”

“I don’t like talking to Wheeljack and Magnus about my origins because they’re asking for a different reason than you.”

“Yeah it’s because all of our combiners were made with the enigma of combination and yours weren’t. They just want to know how Shockwave pulled off a practically god like feat.”

“It’s not really that god like once you know the science behind it.”

“If I promise not to tell Wheeljack how to make an army of combiners will you tell me more about your past?”

“You ask me that as if I haven’t told you anything.”

“You really haven’t. You’ve told me about your time as Contusion and when you fused with other Cons but that’s about it.”

“Well those stories are fun!”

“Yeah but they don’t really answer any of my questions. What if we get a new genesis mech in the near future now that the Wells working? What are we going to do if you don’t help us?”

“If your unlikely scenario happened I would be more than happy to take them as my ward for a bit.”

“Knock Out come on! You’ve sold me so many different lies about what you were like before the war! I want to know the truth!” 

“Fine! Fine. I’ll tell you.” Knock Out dropped a pin into a small hole and tightened it with purpose, his frame held stiff and nervous all of a sudden. He sighed, “Oh where to begin?”

“The beginning duh.”

“A little cliche but…. if you insist. I suppose since you just managed to crawl out of the Well before the war you won’t know most of the old tales. I’m sure you’ve heard of the thirteen Primes though yes?”

“Considering I lived with a Prime and as an Autobot in general yes.”

“Good. Then….well I should explain that there is a fine line between combiners and genesisformers. I said at one point that the Constructicons and Devastator were a genesisformer and they are, they were each forged with the power to form a gestalt and separately they can all fuse with other mechs they just choose not to, but when they’re Devastator they are closer to combining than synergy but...you really don’t care and I’m trying to keep this simple. So you know Nexus the combiner prime?”

“Yeah.”

“Well you know that supposedly were all based off of one of the Thirteen’s templates. Most femmes all have a bit of Solus and all that?” Bee nodded again. His optics glowing intensely as he tried to keep his focus. “Well Genesisformers are said to happen when one’s template came from that of Nexus and Micronus or Amalgamous... or all three equally. It’s really hard to get one of us let’s just put it at that It’s not impossible though since everyone is already forged with Amalgamous’ by default..”

“Wait so that stuff really matters? Is that why I’m so short? I thought Rodimus only told me that to be a jerk!” Knock Out tried to hide his smile at the young mechs actual concern.

“I think you’re alright Bee. It sort of matters but only if you’re lucky and your CNA is based off predominantly one than any other. Femmes based off of Solus, Minibots based off Micronus, Shifters, Amalgamous. You get it? It’s genetics.”

“Mmhmm Mmhmm. Go on.”

“Go on? That’s it! You wanted to know how I was born with my powers and I explained it to you. Genetics.”

“No! Knock Out no you are not getting off that easy! I want to know about you! Not science and genetics. What was it like when you first woke up in the fields? How did they figure out you were a genesisformer? Did you know right away? Did you get to live with Shockwave right away or did you do something else first? What did you even do with him? Knock Out I want to know about you!”

“Those are much different questions than what you asked!.”

“Yeah they’re all the fun ones.” Knock Out sighed as picked through the parts in the cloth. 

“ Fine. After this you take a break digging for info.”

“I’m listening.” Knock Out took a long moment of silence for himself to collect his memories.

“So…. it was cold when I first woke up. I had to brush snow off myself so it must have been a dark season. There were three or four other mechs in my cluster and… one other. I was the first to online. It’s a scary thing thinking back on it. I wasn’t born in a prominent well know spot so there wasn’t much around. The small city a good distance away. I didn’t feel right when I onlined. Right out of the metal my first thoughts were that I was missing something. That I had lost something important to me but I didn’t know what it was. That’s the thing, most Genesis are born in clusters. When you have one you usually have more. Two at least. So while it’s rare to get us statistically we always come as a set. Not like I knew any of this but I found myself walking around looking at the other mechs waiting to online, searching for something familiar in them. They were all strangers to me though. Then I eventually made it back to where I had woken up and I found a trail of energon and ...bits. I felt compelled to follow it into the bramble. I wish I hadn’t. I found a den of turbofoxes and I didn’t stay long but I saw the mutilated frame before running back. I knew that they were supposed to be a part of me. I didn’t know why or how but I knew. 

With nothing else to do I sat in the rust and waited. Eventually three other mechs woke up. The fourth one never did. We sat together huddled for warmth. There were two data miners who ended up coming with me to Iacon and one large brute who got sent off to the furnaces. He was very sweet for a terrified mech right out of the ground. An old defunct model of personal energy equipment who would have been recalled on sight but they chose to augment him to serve a new purpose. He kept us warm till the medics found us. I think he called himself Shocktrap. I think he’s still alive somewhere. He became a Con but we never spoke after that cycle.”

“That sucks Knock Out. Were you almost killed? If you were supposed to be a pair did they think you were useless?”

“They might have but I gave them reason to be impressed or perhaps...terrified.”

“Why?”

“Well... I did something not so nice.” Knock Out paused again as he checked the flexibility of the digits on Onslaught’s new servo. He had expected Bee to say something saccharinely Autobotish but it seemed the other mech was too engrossed. “I don’t know what I was supposed to be with my partner but I’m almost positive we would have been a soldier. A commander. Something big and imposing. Something Smokescreen would self service to.” Bee made sure to hide his smile and stifle his laugh. He didn’t want to stop Knock Out’s train of thought. “I have always been...proud, demanding, passionate, mean, and a few other words that I would never agree with but I know are true. I never like to go or give up without a fight even though I hate getting hurt. I rarely like to concede. I like to prove myself. I have the attitude and the intelligence but none of the skill. That would have been them I think. 

Anyway I was already angry when these medics came to get us. I never even met the mech who was supposed to be a part of me but that didn’t mean I didn’t feel the loss. In my new limited processor I blamed them for the loss of who should have been my other half. I assumed after all that this was their job to take care of new beings such as myself and because they were negligent in their duties two died. I was quite judgmental even right out of the ground. It wasn’t all my attitude though it was the medics as well. They were laughing and they were clearly drunk even though I didn’t know at the time and they were treating us like fools….objects. To them they were just doing their jobs, no sentiment, no care, but their job. To me however it was insulting. They were talking about us as if we couldn’t understand them. Just taking pictures and chatting with one another as if we didn’t matter. They even had the audacity to think they were being sneaky when they were discussing Shocktrap’s fate. Sure he may not have known what being recalled meant but it was quite easy to understand what may happen when someone just waves a pistol around willy nilly.

Perhaps it was just me though. I know I was the only one who took it as a personal offense. When the medics finally got to me they took pictures and asked me to do a few simple cognitive tests. Then they asked me to transform..... I couldn’t. I could transform I just had no form to transform into. I was supposed to get that data once I fused with my partner. With genesis mechs you care so much more about who you are together than you do who you are separately. They did a few scans. Saw that I was perfectly fine so they thought I was being difficult. They were laughing at me. Belittling me. Accusing me of being defunct. One of them got a bit forceful. So I got a bit forceful back.”

“What did you do?”

“I tore his intake out. Then I bashed in his head with a rock. It was rather easy. He didn’t expect me to get so violent so quickly. The other medic didn’t even try to help. They just fled.” Knock Out paused as he picked through the screws in the rag looking for the right one.

“Are you serious?” Bee was looking like he had just been shot in the spark. Knock Out laughed curtly and sighed.

“Yes, but that was the end of my killing spree till the Decepticons I promise. I wish it was some grand demented thing but it wasn’t. I had only tried to grab him but well...my claws are actually meant to be very sharp. I have to file them constantly or the edge reforms. Then he just wouldn’t stop screaming and I was worried the noise would attract the turbofoxes to us again. With one dead the other medic gone the four of us stood together. I was worried they would be afraid of me but the others couldn’t have cared less. So with that behind me we all just walked to town. None of us had vehicle modes so it was slow and cold but we got there.”

“Then what?”

“The police found us. Found me covered in energon. Nothing but new sparks who hadn’t even been registered. They didn’t know what to do so they just took us to where we needed to be. Then we went to Iacon and poor Shocktrap went to Kaon. There they ran some tests. The healers at Iacon figured out pretty quickly what was wrong. Said without my partner I was too unstable to be put in the field. They didn’t think I would be able to properly connect to another team since I didn’t have that first connection. They thought I would reject any other Genessisformer team or even a Genesisformer who had lost their partner. So in that moment I became alt mode exempt. I was allowed to scan whatever I wanted to, choose whatever form I wanted. So I went with a lovely sports car. 

I was then sent to Yuss. A rich city full of rich slaggers. I was “contracted” to some artist who had a connection with one of the assignors at the Senate which was why I wasn’t just put down. Being handsome has it’s perks. His name was Tint. He was nice enough. In Yuss with him I was just a pretty face. A model. A living canvas who would just strut up and down walkways and drive around tracks to show off new designs or fashions to rich snobs. I picked up most of my detailing skill from him. He really was a lovely artist. Then Tint was killed in a hit and run. Before the Senate could collect me and contract me to another mech I ran and I ran right into Cadmus. A young actor,playwright, and shifter who wasn’t doing so well. The theater where he was contracted was going to boot him if he didn’t at least get a small following. So I helped him out and he helped me. Let me share his room at the theater. His room. His energon. His berth. One night when another one of his performances flopped we tried to…..blow off some steam. We didn’t get very far. I didn’t think I could fuse with anyone let alone a mech who wasn’t made for it but one minute were making out and the next moment we were on the floor as someone entirely new. That night I felt….something akin to a tear in myself close up. It felt good to know that I wasn’t just some pretty defect. Cadmus loved it. Loved who we became. I loved it too. He didn’t know something like that was possible. Like most cybertronian citizens he didn’t even know mechs like me existed. The senate thought it was too dangerous an idea to get out. That there were mechs who could come together. Who could be better than who they were born alone. So the knowledge was contained to mostly military personnel with only a few exceptions like the Constructicons.

So Cadmus spoke to the master of the theater. Wrote up a new performance. Introduced me to him. The old mech was angry at first but when we showed him what we could do he was blown away. He made it a huge deal. There were posters and costumes and entirely new music scores written for our performance. Cadmus and I both had to train to put on a show neither of us really understood how to do. It was fun. We had fun. I had fun with Tint don’t get me wrong but this was something I felt I had done myself. Something that I had a say in. 

For the first time in his life Cadmus had packed house for a performance. Nearly everyone in Yuss had been enticed by the posters and the rumors so much that the cycle we were going to debut we were going to have to do the show ten times. One right after the other. When they finally saw it they thought it was magic. An illusion right before their optics. They screamed and shouted and some even demanded to see us up close. To touch us. To prove that we were real. You see Jhiaxus had already created a combiner eons before but by that time it was nothing but legend. A terrifying failure that created a monster. They had been expecting something along those lines. A horror story of that legend but what they got was something beautiful. Cadmus and I weren’t perfect but we were stable. Two young naive mechs who just wanted to live life. Who needed each other to survive. We were a performance in every way. Not some out of control war machine who just barely had the processing power to outsmart a glitchrat.

Word spread quickly about the performance. It didn’t take the Senate long to figure out what had happened. What I’d done. They sent someone to the theater to pick me up and they took me back to Iacon. Back there I was studied by scientists and medics and I was put under house arrest for the creation and distribution of inflammatory propaganda. Not like that meant much. You see the mechs of Yuss were outraged that the Senate had taken their new form of entertainment away. They had paid money in advance to see me and Cadmus fuse again and again and again. It was art. It was magic. It was exciting and new. So realizing that I had gone and shined a spotlight on myself the Senate figured that I wasn’t going to just fade away. They couldn’t just get rid of me. So being the smart senator he was senator Proteus convinced the others to continue letting me perform. They staged this whole thing. Said that they wanted me to be able to perform at a bigger platform. Where everyone could see me all at once. So they brought in Cadmus. They offered free travel to all the Yusseans who had paid to see me. Offered them private meet and greets with me and Cadmus and...they came in droves. Not just the rich Yusseans but rich mechs from all over.

Then the unavoidable questions came and there was always one in particular. How did I do it? The Senate as always had a perfect answer. Shockwave. I was nothing more than a successful experiment of his in his attempts to right his master’s failure who had ran away. Now fresh youngish senator Shockwave was more ingrained in the social unrest than he was in hard science at this point but he did have this little club of mutants that he had collected and was already known for his weird experiments. It was all the public needed. We were having some conflict with some other mech run planet who had some height and advanced weapons on on us so the citizens had no problem believing that they were trying to recreate combiners to have as new sentinels. With that sort of expectation though that meant that Shockwave actually had to do experiments. Which he was more than excited to do. 

So I belonged to him from then after but me being an experiment didn’t stop me being a celebrity. So at every party the senate threw I was expected to be there. And every senator wanted me on their arm. So I changed a lot of servos. Eventually they just grew to love me. The lucky senators who won the lottery of my presence wanted me for more of me than just the government run shindigs. At one of the hundreds of parties I had gone to one of the very drunk senators had boasted that he had also fused with me. Now the medics thought and told me that I had managed to fuse with Cadmus because he was a shifter which at that point the public and I just accepted. So the news that I could just fuse with anyone I wanted was just wild. Everyone wanted to see me and the senator fuse. He tried to backtrack the best he could but well he put saving his aft on me. 

So as mentioned I, rather enjoying my new fame and very drunk, thought what’s stopping me? So here’s where we get to the nitty gritty of fusion and combination. It’s all to do with the spark. Most sparks are closed circuits that can be opened and shared for brief windows during things like interface. They can also be limited which is why it’s common for most mechs to only spark bond with one mech at a time. My sparks not closed, well it wasn’t. I learned how to close it over time. My never connecting to my original partner had a small part but it had more to do with my ease at fusing than anything. Combination….well we forced some channels to stay open. Desperation. Need. Trauma. Mechs can form bonds with each other.Rely on each other at the highest form. Make something better and stronger than who they are separately. But they can’t do what I do. Combiners are what you might get from a genesisformer if the connection is really really bad. There’s just something keeping them apart. In the case of Devastator though they want that separation, that distinction, because they’ve know real fusion. They’ve lost themselves to Devastator and while they love being him and need to be together they also love themselves and who they are alone. With them it’s a skill. I’ve never been able to distance myself. Even with my worst fusions.

So the only real factor of me fusing with someone is do I want to and do they. With the senator it just happened like it had with Cadmus thanks to the fact that most of them wanted to take me back for some private time and Senator Garrdus was no different. I didn’t know any of this yet and I wouldn’t till a bit later once Shockwave got really into the science but I had hypothesized my own reasons that weren’t too off the mark. So the fact that it worked was a shock to everyone. Everyone loved it. So novel, so exciting, so large and handsome and strange! After that no one really really cared about Cadmus anymore. No one wanted to see me and him fuse they just wanted to see me and the Senator. Cadmus who realized the fad was over went back to Yuss. All of his endeavors were wonderfully successful after that. He asked me if I wanted to run away with him and I did... but I also knew it would only end with him..dead so I stayed. It hurt having him go. Having him fade away. It wasn’t as strong a connection as my first connection should have been but it was still strong enough that it never faded completely even with all the other mechs I fused with. I felt him die. Felt that tear in me rip back open.” Knock Out went quiet for a moment as he looked the completed servo over.

“Knock Out?” Bee reached over and touched Knock Out’s still servo.

“So anyway. The Senator. I was exclusively his for about a month to please crowds till the others got jealous. Why him and not them! They all wanted me to try fusing with them. To them it was a challenge. Who could and who couldn’t sort of inconsequential pompousness. Then one of them….Senator Andromeda I think. She always knew how to put on a show. We had just separated and there were a few influential mechs asking her some tough questions and I was too drunk at the time to really remember much but she grabbed me by my shoulders and said something along the lines of “Well Shockwave’s done such a good job Knock Out here can fuse with almost anyone. It won’t be long till we have combiners all over keeping our cities safe!” That just….it turned me into an attraction. After that I was a toy that everyone wanted to play with. It also turned the heat up on Shockwave but only a bit. The public didn’t really care about the science behind everything all they saw was a fun new thing to be entertained by and that someone was working on keeping them safe. Still the more the Senate found out I could do the more they wondered. The more they actually wanted me studied. So after that there were less parties and more Shockwave. Every now and again someone would ask Shockwave to borrow me but more often than not I was with him.

The tests were...unique if boring. I spent most of my time under microscopes and cameras while he inspected me in silence. Trying to find any and all differences between me and normal mechs.. That’s how he figured out about my spark. Then he had me fuse with whoever he could but most of the time it didn’t work because unlike the elite mechs of Iacon and Yuss Shockwave’s little anomalies didn’t know what to do. They didn’t want it and I didn’t know what to do to help make it work. I’d never had to deal with someone who didn’t want to fuse with me before so we were at an impasse for a while. At the time he didn’t know how normal mechs spark’s formed open channels. How he got that information I never asked because I wasn’t there for that little breakthrough. While the science was stalled we just...lived I guess. Really got to know each other and enjoy each other’s company. We had spent plenty of time together before but before he really started getting into studying me I was sort of just like a pet he didn’t want. We didn’t exactly have compatible personalities and while as a genesisformer I was rare but I wasn’t unique enough for him until I started fusing with everyone. I can’t really blame him he had plenty of other mechs with fun abilities to study. 

We were out at a bar when some drunk socialite recognized me. Said he hadn’t been seeing me at the parties as of late and was disappointed because he never got his chance to fuse with me. So I did and you would have thought it was a solstice celebration for Shockwave. He wasn’t the partying type so he had never actually seen me fuse with a another person till then. I think that was when he realized that it couldn’t just be me. I couldn’t make it happen alone so after that he went to Jhiaxus’ old research. So while he was combing through old datapads I was back with the other senators but on my free days I stayed at my apartment and actually taught myself something. That was about the time I got my inhibitor chip so when I wasn’t learning from the senators I read up on cold construction, anatomy,chemistry, I’m sure there was more.”

“I thought you said you didn’t know anything about being a medic when you joined the Cons.”

“Bee knowing where all the fuel lines are and the how much weight a certain frame can carry does not a Doctor make. Sure it helps but trust me it’s not enough.” 

“Okay. So what after that? Did you and Shockwave ever fuse? I thought Menasor was the first Combiner you two made but was there one before you two joined the Cons? How did you join the Cons if it wasn’t with Shockwave?”

“Yes. Yes. And I was getting there. You’re the one who interrupted.”

“I’m just making sure Con. I want the truth after all.”

“Oh come now. Even if I did lie it would be for embellishment only.”

“Embellishment huh? How much of that have you already done?”

“None I was holding out till later in the story.” 

“What’s wrong with the later part of your life?”

“Well I joined the Cons Bee. Sure it was kind of fun fighting a war and all but I’m here now so you certainly don’t think I don’t have some regrets.”

“Like what?”

“All the times I actually tried to save Megatron or Starscream or Soundwaves lives comes to mind.”

“Wait but- Soundwave too? Really? Butt you still respond to all of Megatron’s calls. And Starscream, you spent so long telling us how useful he could be. You were so adamant on us being fair and respectful to him.”

“Yes well isn’t that the Autobot way? Isn’t that what Optimus would have wanted? Bee I spent a little less than four million years with them so my feelings about them...they’re complicated. I worked my way up. I gained their trust. I was forced to care about them! Expected to keep them alive. I was respected by them once. Then it just all fell away. After that...as things just turned worse and worse and Megatron turned crazier and crazier- I think the humans sum it up pretty well so hopefully you’ve come across this one. I gave the Decepticon cause all the fucks I had till I had none left. Nary a one by the time I landed on earth and I think it showed. The fact that you and Smokescreen and Bulkhead and Ratchet and the humans are still alive shows that but... you never saw me at the best of my worst. None of you have. Which is good because I think Magnus would have increased the courtesy hours he thinks I should spend in jail. I gave them everything and in the end all I got was disappointment, heartache, and PTSD. I was mocked, ridiculed, abused! I have a few grudges. I don’t care enough to do anything drastic now but thinking back on it? Yeah I should have killed them. It’s not like it matters.”

“I guess. I just don’t get it.”

“It’s hard to explain but...when you get to know mechs like i’ve had to both in a medical life saving sense and a fusion sense well...you may not like them in a group but you might alone and even if you don’t like them at all you learn about all the others that do. All the mechs who would be hurt if they were suddenly gone. The only reason I said what I did was because looking back on it I’m embarrassed how much I gave them. How much they took. And how little I did to save myself and the mechs that I loved.” 

“Oh. I can understand that. I loved and respected Optimus but sometimes I think we just blindly followed him. He wanted to do good and see the best in everyone but..,his past with Megatron blinded him. I think most of the time he wanted to save his friend more than actually do the right thing.” 

“ You’re not far from the mark. We Decepticons saw it in Megatron a lot faster but hey we both still stuck around for the charade so we’re no better.” Knock Out checked out for a moment as he looked over Onslaught’s servo one last time. “Listen Bee, I need to go give this to Onslaught, by then it will be time to take Starscream out for his fly around and then I really want to take a rest. Can you wait to pick this up later or will your little new mold spark just explode from the anticipation?”

“I think I’ll be fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading hoped you liked it. Kudos comments and requests if you like.


	5. Back to the top

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Backstory part two. Also as a preemptive note. I love superion I think his design is awesome but he's made up of the aerial bots who are nothing but dicks and Silverbolt and I'm sorry but one nice cinnamon bun of a mech doesn't counteract four dicks.

“Knock Out it’s been two days and you’re ignoring me. You really don’t have to talk about your past if you don’t want to.” Knock Out laughed nervously as walked around the medbay cleaning things.

 

“To be honest I wasn’t running this time. Recalling my past with you I realized that there was large chunks of my memory that I had left corrupted. When I finally sat down and fixed them well….let’s just say I needed a day.”

 

Bee looked down at the two cubes of energon he had brought and solemnly offered one to Knock Out. “Oh.”

 

Knock Out took it and waved off Bee’s concern a little too quickly. “No need for that Bee. Thinking about Menasor….well there’s a reason I left those memories corrupted. Not good to think too fondly of the past but I made you a promise so let's head back to my room. No good place to sit in here and this is going to be a long one."

Bee nodded and the two sipped at their cubes as they walked. It was a short walk but it was nice to just have Knock Out with him. Bee had worried his probing had finally been the death of Knock Out's tolerance. As he swiped his talons over the door lock and stretched as he sat at his small table Knock Out looked perfectly comfortable though.

"So where were we?

 

“You were with Shockwave. Still figuring out your abilities.”

“Ah yes. So by that time Megatron was just starting a commotion. The senators had been...sending opponents for him to fight to try and kill him “the natural way”. Except no one could take him down. They wanted someone better. Someone stronger. Even if it had to be two or more someones. So the senate pushed Shockwave hard. Said that he’d had me in his lab for so long he clearly wasn’t doing anything he was wasting government funds on his glitched defects and all of this was true but we had been working. So he cracked down and when I was around he taught me a few things so I could be of some help.

 

As our experiments went on. As we tried to work through Jhiaxus’ research we came to understand that getting normal mechs channels to open permanently and stay open was going to take somewhat of a dark turn. It’s about connection and bonds and needs and most mechs don’t necessarily need those things. We started with twins and conjux. Mechs who were either already born with these open channels or had chosen to make them. So it was my job to teach them how to use that connection to hone it. Show them what they could do and for the most part it worked but they just couldn’t understand or grasp what it was like. To be made undone but still there so they could make something new. They couldn’t make something new, so they made something familiar. They would just melt together. They couldn’t really make two equal one so they stayed obvious. Separate even when together. Eventually we got something...close enough. The closest thing to a mech made genesisformer I had ever seen. A pair of lovers who one of which was a symbiote host. So they were a perfect candidate. They could already keep stable channels with not only one other mech but a dozen at least. The managed to create something not entirely new but close enough. There was some excess kibble and they certainly couldn’t transform but still it was amazing. Shockwave and I….we felt like we had changed the world. If we could create something as limited and rare as genesisformers we could create anything.

 

But they didn’t last.

 

I can’t really tell you what happened scientifically but the long and short of it was that we left them together for too long. They forgot about themselves so instead of just splitting apart when they needed themselves back again they just…..became nothing. Just a grotesque existence of metal and energon. Needless to say we stuck to more limited subjects. It wasn’t until he was with the Cons that we came back to the idea of using normal mechs. So with imperfect abet successful creations he didn’t need me anymore and considering he was already connected to Optimus and the cause he had enough forethought to let me go. Got me my freedom and everything. Which seems nice in theory but...well he was a genius but he was also very scatterbrained. He gave the senate some small Combiner teams to send Megatron's way, two, three mechs but nothing like were used to now. They were quickly lost to the pits.

 

So…my freedom. I was famous. A celebrity so Shockwave was sure I could go out into the world running but that didn’t happen. The senate had taken care of me for far too long. I didn’t really mind it because without them I had to manage so many things on my own that I wouldn’t have any idea how to even get at. So many of the senators offered me jobs to come on as their secretaries or their personal assistants and while I never committed to any one of them I stayed around. Megatron had once verbalized that he wished he knew about me when he was infiltrating the senate. Said it would have made things a lot easier with how close I was but I would have never helped him back then. That let me keep my apartment and I was still mostly arm candy at parties and meetings and other private outings just doing my thing. Being entertainment but things did sort of change. Since I was a free mech now the senators thought it was finally alright to start courting me. So that was my life. That’s when I started getting stuff. Money. Embellishments. Drugs. One senator even bought me my own servant to woo me. I had moved past that point in my life though so instead of accepting all that I took a few courses at the school when I wasn’t at parties. Not medical ones. Engineering. I learned how to make a few things. That proved useful in the long run.

 

One of them though I took interest in….senator Ortus. He was young and quiet. Often at the school when he was in Iacon. He was the representative for a small city by the neon sea and he quite liked it so he didn’t stay very long on his trips up. On one of the schools lengthy breaks he offered to take me with him back there for a little over two orns and I agreed to go with him. I never went back. Partly for him but partly because that was the month Megatron struck the senate. Ortus went back to Iacon to fight the good fight. He didn’t want me to go back with him. He wanted me to stay in xverna. So I stayed. He never came back.

 

After that with the war going my life was turbulent. I didn’t have any really good skills aside from my ability but I really wanted to keep that a secret. Mechs like me had either already sided with Megatron or had been killed by him so it was best that I kept my head down. Although not to inflate my own ego but I’m sure Megatron tried to find me at least in the beginning. Probably thought he accidentally killed me off though. I certainly wasn’t what he expected when I did show up.”

 

“Hey Knock Out?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Sorry to interrupt but I just find it really hard to believe that none of the other Cons tried to fuse with you during your time on earth. Was-was Megatron that bad off?”

 

“Oh believe me he was. He was already too bad off by the time I tried to leave the Cons. I don’t know how but when Unicron revived his spark somehow managed to fix his processor as well. I think- it’s dumb and to be honest the fact that he hasn’t done anything yet terrifies me but I think it’s why he was able to almost flip like a switch. He- He certainly had coherent moments even before but they were few and far between.

 

If you really want to know- I- When he first got a chance to really talk to me after he had miraculously healed he never even asked me about any other medics. He never asked me about the other Stunticons who are perfectly alive and well on a little beach planet that has yet to see sentient life and he even brought up who I had chosen as my partner at the time. When Breakdown and I came back from failed missions he never scolded me or asked why I had failed to use the advantage I had been born with even though Soundwave did often until I firmly told him it was none of his business unless he was going to make it a direct order. He never did. Obviously.

 

So long and short I just thought he had forgotten and Starscream never really knew me. I was just another name on a list when he called me.” Knock Out grew quiet. Bee knew that story. How he had no plans on even answering the Commander. How when he transferred the call from his armor to the ship he never expected one of the other Stunticons to answer it.

 

“So Starscream never once made it to your table?”

 

Knock Out scoffed bitterly. “No he had. I knew him. He just couldn’t give a damn like the rest of those higher up fools. Anyway….Megatron….I had never fused with him and he never once asked till one night….as I said I had blissfully hoped that with all the years of processor trauma he’d forgotten all about me so it came as quite a shock... but after Silas...I had spent quite a few hours with him and I needed a break. I went to get something from the dispensary and when I arrived I found it empty so I stayed and drank there. Megatron came in. Rather drunk and when he saw me he got this...look in his optics. Like he had been looking for me all night. He slowly came over and sat down next to me and I immediately stood to get back to my duties but he stopped me. Pulled me onto his lap and offered me the privilege of his protection. I said well I’m already a Con does that not count? And he said his personal protection. He then went on to compliment me which he never did sober and then he offered that I was better with someone else. Daresay I needed someone else. Then he said something strange. He said he admired my apathy towards most things and my ability to, despite it, fool others into thinking I could care. That could love. So they would love me back. He was talking about how….mellowly... I reacted to Breakdown. He continued on about my ability to do what needed to be done despite and that all I was lacking was confidence. Assurance. Something to combat my cowardice. He confided in me that he would never kill Optimus because that just wasn’t fun. He said he would fight and kill till Optimus saw things his way. He knew how frustrated we were. How he was running the cause he stood for into the ground but he didn’t care. As far as he saw it the war was won. There are so few of you Autobots and while the Con’s are scattered they are still plenty more of us. Doing what he wanted us to do anyway. Forging our own paths. Taking and fighting our own fights to get what we wanted. He wanted me to help him get what he wanted. I- I gave it a shot.”

 

“You actually fused with Megatron?”

 

“I...combined my form with his. We were together but I was never able to complete the connection. It felt so strange and terrifying and horrible. Nothing was open to me and I couldn’t open up to him. I don’t even know how I made it work but it happened. It was like we were both standing on cliffs, a huge divide between us, but I could still feel him. Hear some of his thoughts. And sometimes...I saw things in the divide. Horrible things. We only lasted... less than an hour and...once we fell apart he never brought it up again. So there you go.” Knock Out pushed himself from the small table with a simple flare and sauntered over to one of his cabinets. “Primus I need a drink for that one.”

 

“Was it really that bad? Is talking about your past that hard on you?” Bee panicked internally as Knock Out walked around fixing himself a drink. Bulk and Arcee rarely talked about their pasts and when they did they went in to depressive moods very easily afterwards. Knock Out didn’t seem like the type but...maybe he was just better at hiding it.

 

Knock Out leaned against the back of Bee’s seat as he sipped at his energex. His long talons slowly stroking Bee’s shoulders. “Oh~ you sweet soft little thing of tin. I’m fine Bee. I don’t do anything I don’t want to do that’s not under pain of death. This really is therapeutic in a way. I’ve never talked about stuff like this really believe it or not I was always made out to be the listener of woes. So now off of that little tangent.

 

The start of the war. I was mostly just trying to survive. Not everything was for the Bots or for the Cons. It was just mechs trying to get energon or energy or take care of their titan cities. I used what meager chemistry I knew synthesizing energon and medicine in the tiny senate hospital of my town. Day in and day out watching city after city fall into ruin. The senate just couldn’t keep up and what places they could keep there was deaths and riots and mechs begging for one side or the other to come and save them. I think that was the most surprising thing really. How the cities fell. Even the ones who had been so important to the senate.”

 

“So when did you actually join up? What happened to Xverna?”

 

“Xverna was firebombed to the ground. I evacuated with the rest of the city but got lost somewhere along the trip. Ended up in another destroyed town looking for fuel. Scavenging was just one of my natural born skills it seemed. So I followed the war collecting any salvageable supplies. Digging through crumbling apartments I met Resize. A back alley augmenter. He took one look at my talons and thought I was engineer class. Asked me if I did cold construction. I didn’t obviously but I had read enough anatomy books. He wanted a partner in crime. Tearing up the dead. I was against it...in the beginning but...I had been on my own for sometime by then. Pretty lonely. I was uhhh as you’d way a bit desperate. Resize was very fun for a desecrating lunatic. I should have known my life was going to go downhill from there. You let one villain into your life and you slowly start to normalize it. Suddenly you’re surrounded by them! It was just so...easy to let go of one’s morals. Everyone needed to survive somehow and why not, it wasn’t as if the dead would care. And who knew if the living would ever see their loved ones again.

 

I wasn’t with Resize for long though so I can’t blame all my bad habits on him. For the most part I earned them on my own. Then one night we were at a small neutral zone selling whatever we could and just looking for a place to stay out of the rain when they came for me. I guess Shockwave had been keeping tabs on me for some time so I was caught pretty unawares when he sent some Vehicons to pick me up. Back in the day Vehicons were beefier and could actually do some damage so don’t you say a thing.”

 

Bee caught his laugh in his throat. Bulk had once mentioned the drones being much more of a threat once but it was still funny to imagine a couple of the sad tin soldiers trying to kidnap and contain a very angry Knock Out. “What about Resize? He didn’t do anything to help?”

 

“He was quite a heavy recharger. Main reason he wanted a partner I think. Always got robbed and that night he was robbed of me!” Knock Out’s optics were bright now thanks to the liquor and Bee swore he could hear an extra lilt in the medic’s words.

 

“D-do you have your chip off?”

 

Knock Out took another long slow drink as he stared Bee straight down. “Maybe~ Now….Shockwave. I guess what happened was Mixmaster or Scrapper had been injured during a battle and they were out of commission for a good week. A very important week. A week that, at that point in the battle, won or lost it for them and they lost without Devastator. Megs wanted a backup. But where do you just get a backup titan you may ask well Shockwave had just the answer. See without his emotions he didn’t care about those pesky dark turns I mentioned before. All that mattered was Megatron wanted it. Shockwave knew how to do it and he was intrigued to see if he could.

 

My first time meeting Megatron and Shockwave again was terrifying. Remember I had left him before the senate got to him so being tossed to these….well these huge already war weary mechs was just insane. The next thing I knew I had this one eyed deformity of a mech stalking over to me, grabbing me, and trying to ram me into himself. I didn’t know what else to do but act on instinct. I gave him the only thing I thought he could want. Also I suppose I should make this a bit clear. The drones didn’t just dump me on the floor and then Shockwave just came over to me without saying anything. He was prattling away to the Cons, singing my praises the best a mech like him could thinking that I was following along and going to act accordingly except I didn’t know what he was saying. See back in the day Neo-cybex had so many dialects that from region to region it may as well have been its own new language. Being from Iacon and Yuess I barely spoke what most consider Neo-cybex. I know because Resize, who before becoming a back-alley augmenter was actually quite an established one, spoke about a medium class dialect and made fun of me all the time. I spoke basically primal with some slang thrown in. Shockwave wasn’t thinking about that though.”

 

“Is that the one that sounds like a saw shearing through metal while someone besides you trying to chew glass?” Knock Out gave Bee a sloppy smile.

 

“I’ve never heard it described quite like that but I’m sure that’s the one. Did Prime teach you how to talk like a proper mech?”

 

“No. Ratchet used to slip into it when he got drunk. When I was younger I always worried it was his engine about to explode till Optimus told me. You can speak like that? How does your vocalizer emit that high a frequency all the time and still be ok?”

 

“Oh hush. You sound like Breakdown. I was made fun of enough I don’t need this from you.”

 

“Sorry. I’m sure you made it sound beautiful.”

 

“Some mechs sure liked it. Motormaster loved when I would talk dirty to him like that. Always liked it because it reminded him he had something high class for once in his miserable life.”

 

“Well I’m glad you learned how to talk like a normal mech. You would have been much more annoying to fight if I couldn’t even understand you on top of everything.”

 

“Oh hush.” Knock Out scrunched his face and rolled his optics. Bee couldn’t help but laugh. He’d never seen the medic make the face before.

 

“Alright. Alright. So, what was it like fusing with Shockwave?”

 

“Cold. Empty. Something like how it had been with Megatron but not nearly as bad because we actually managed to do it properly. Shockwave mostly relied on small talk. He told me what he kidnapped me for and told me it would be unwise for me to refuse. So I didn’t. We separated quickly. We didn’t exactly do anything exciting. I do remember most of the mechs in the room wandering around us. Megatron was a bit in awe. He could understand the concept I mean he already knew Devastator and a few other genesis mechs for sometime but I guess it’s just new and exciting every time. Seeing two separate mechs suddenly become one new thing.

 

After that we got right to work. Shockwave had paid for a few groups of mechs but the stunticons were the most promising. They were already pretty close and they were all rather needy mechs beneath their bluffs and bluster. It quickly started to show when we separated them. Told each of them that the others were….gone.

 

You see Bee normal mechs….to open spark channels and to keep them open….there needs to be a sort of...want….or…. desperation. Whether it be for closeness and love or simply to survive. Adaptability is one of our most famous traits. When forces push down on cybertronians, cybertronians push back whatever way they can. So Shockwave and I simulated a sort of desperate situation. Looking back on it now….it likely could have been done differently but….let’s not think about that.

 

So every cycle we had a routine. Shockwave would go and take the boys to their limits. Torture them till they were nothing but thoughtless machines. Cold and hopeless. Then I would go in with a medic and fix them up. Putting seeds of ideas in their heads. Oh wouldn’t it be nice if you had your team back? Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone to rely on. You were stronger together. Everyone’s stronger together. Things like that. While of course sprinkling in some anti- autobot sentiment. They were an ex-wrecker team so I needed to remind them how they were just left to die. How they meant nothing. How with the Cons they could. We did this for…years. During my off hours was when I started on as a medic. Everyone in the Cons did double duty after all and the CMO at the time….Whiplash... said I certainly had the mindset and the servos for it. I told him that I would think about it but after…” Knock Out rubbed gently at his face and optics, “Oh these battles just run together now. We were definitely trying to take some Autobot city. Doesn’t matter. They were getting their afts kicked and the medics were swamped in no time so Whiplash grabs me out of my room takes ten minutes to install two saws into my arms. Gives me some data pads as he’s pushing me off to decon and says I have a groon to get some semblance of medical knowledge. I didn’t even get the groon.” Knock Out stood to refill his glass. Bee watched him walk, a greater sway in his hips; the medic’s digits purposefully sliding along random objects on the wall.

 

“I remember Shockwave pulling me out of the medbay and I was just covered with energon. It had eaten through my paint. I was rather salty about it. Resize had done it for me and I was rather attached. He couldn’t have cared less I couldn’t blame him but...it still stung. I went and showered and for the first time I went to fix up the boys on my own.

 

Dead End panicked. He screamed and begged thinking that his time was finally up so he was difficult. He calmed down when I started working but he twitched constantly. Made things so difficult for me. I couldn’t blame him though. I was a lot nicer back then.

 

I remember complaining about my paint to Dragstrip. He commiserated as I reattached his parts. I said I could come in and repaint him once I gathered some decent ones. I was getting a salary now thanks to whiplash so...that was new. I wasn’t really thinking about what I was supposed to be doing to be honest. Just off the floor I was still in “hey everything's fine? That big hole in your chest? No problem!” mode. I was overly nice and comforting with Breakdown and Wildrider perhaps a bit too playful with Motormaster. It sort of spiraled from there. Every now and again I would remember to mention the key phrases but I didn’t think they worked.They were more interested in me. Getting to know me. Impressing me.

 

Shockwave told me this later but Motormaster and Wildrider were the most vocal. They got cocky real fast. Saying they’d much rather have me beating them senseless because at least it be a better show. Damn near consensual. When Shockwave realized they were getting too attached he had the medics send me off on field duty. Had a different mech come in with a medic to fix them up. Give them the key phrases. I was just too ingrained in the war to even think I had been sent away for a reason. I just thought the medics needed me on the floor. I was a medic at that point. Other medics relied on me it was very strange.”

 

“Wait...so you becoming a Con just sort of happened? You didn’t choose to give over your spark casing or devote your allegiance to Megatron or anything?”

 

Knock Out swirled the drink in his servos a soft snicker in his vocalizer. “No. They just forgot I never did all those things. When I was brought up Megatron was still fairly sane so he was more than willing to let me go back to my neutral life after I was finished with Shockwave but I just got pulled in and I just figured….I’m getting fuel every cycle, a berth to sleep on, friends to talk to, there’s no point in leaving.”

 

Bee held his head in his servos. “Honestly why am I surprised? That fits your M.O. perfectly.”

 

Knock Out’s smile grew. “Does it? Is it disappointing? Mechs always used to ask me what I stood for and well...they laughed when I said myself. Over time it just became comical. It became my persona. Until it became everyone’s answer. Well...most everyone’s answer.”

 

Bee rested his head on his arms as he looked up at Knock Out. He could tell the medic was inching towards self loathing territory. “So what next? With Menasor. Did they flip out when you stopped showing up?”

 

Knock Out turned back to bee and sat back down. “Oh yes, but that was the way Shockwave planned it. He….didn’t plan on it….sort of wrecking them….. though. I...I guess he took it too long. He’d change up the mechs and the medics he would send int and whatever to keep them without an anchor. To keep them desperate but then he did something strange. I should have known was a red flag but hey I wasn’t thinking half the time I was too exhausted. When I was out of the field I went to him to check on the project to see if everything had been going smoothly despite me being in the field. Shockwave was like of course you’re not even that important. You know how he does! Anyway he tells me he needs me to write him a like…..one step down from a love note and I was just…..why but he just told me to do it because he’d been trying to simulate one and….they sucked because he doesn’t have emotions anymore. So I wrote him the note. Just you know a sappy romantic sort of ‘oh life in the warzone is so hard and I miss your face and can’t stop thinking about the brief times we shared. And if you could only hold on I’d do anything to be together.’Shockwave was just weird. I don’t know why I didn’t think that was weird but trust me it wasn’t the weirdest thing I’d ever had to do.

 

So after that I was in and out of the field or on reconnaissance missions trying to weasel out any of the senate strongholds or Autobot higher ups. I...I was out in the field when it happened. I had been keeping an optic on Devastator because he was rather close when there was just a explosion of steam and a loud screeching roar and then Menasor came running through the streets just tearing up everything in his path. I was….terrified and a little proud. We had finally done it! Made our own legend. The battle was won in….klicks as far as I remember.”

 

“I don’t remember it that way but Ratchet always said time went faster for him as a medic so we’ll call it a difference of position.”

 

“I’m sure it must have gone on much longer for you and the other Bots who were trying to take him down.”

 

“He wasn’t stable though right? I remember when the Bot’s started retreating he kept tearing slag up. “

 

“Hmmh yeah. He definitely did.”

 

“So what did Megatron do?”

 

“Megatron didn’t do anything. Shockwave gave Menasor my location. If you think having to just fight a combiner is bad I’m sure you can understand how terrified I was when I had one chasing after me.”

 

“Did they catch you?”

 

“Of course they did! I’m fast but not that fast. It wasn’t like it did much though it just made them happier to destroy stuff because now they had someone to show off to. I wasn’t the reason they came together. They came together because they had a common goal and was to get free, get revenge and do what they wanted. So when they finally saw that the other members of their team were actually alive they decided that was their only chance to do something. Getting to me was just one minor thing. I was able to talk them down though so that was…..something. Only problem was when they separated. They were different mechs from when they had gone in. years of slag will do that to the mind. They were a bit insane. Fit right in though. Megatron was able to talk them into staying. Into helping the cause. Shockwave had instilled enough Autobot hate in them that they were happy to bring about their end. The only downside was that….they sort of hated each other now and that was all my fault....well Shockwave’s. He’s the one who made them think I had a secret crush on all of them separately. Their individual negative traits didn’t help much and after the first battle Megatron couldn’t even care to know that I existed or that I was part of the whole situation. In fact I’m pretty sure if you asked him he wouldn’t even know I was the same mech. I mean he would put it together rather quickly he’s not that much of an idiot but if you asked him separately he wouldn’t remember that I did both things. Making Menasor and being the genesis mech who eventually became part of the team. Fuck! He probably just thought I left.

 

Primus my life.” Knock Out drained his drink and rubbed at his face slowly. Bee could see the twitch in his digits and the small sparks in the corners of his optics. “I was just so fragging unrememberable.” The slithering cold of the medics field coiled around Bee unintentionally.

 

“Knock Out?”

 

“Anyway! So the war went on. Megs learned how to handle his new monster the Stuticons hit on me regularly but I was just as busy in the field as they were so it never really got anywhere. Then the creeping reality set in that Menasor was really stupid. Just angry and stupid and they would get angrier and stupider at the drop of a bolt. So Shockwave was often calling me into deal with things. Again not like Megatron ever gave a fuck! What did he care as long as someone solved the problem WHO CARED WHO SOLVED IT- IT-It just got to the point where Menasor just did what he wanted and by now Superion was a thing and that Aft just made them feel bad!

 

Just-FUCK HIM FUCK THAT SLAGGER! HE DOESN’T KNOW! HE DOESN’T KNOW ANYTHING! GROUP OF STUCK UP LITTLE ENTITLED AERIALS FROM THE SENATE'S PERFECT ELITE CORE OR WHEREVER THE HELL! PRIMUS! LITTLE SLAGGER!” Knock Out was out of his seat now his optics sparking and burning as bright as two well fueled smelting pools. Long furrows in the table from one claw and bits of broken glass tinkling down from the other. Bee quickly calmed his own spark and quickly ran through his short list of ways to calm the snarling ex-Con. Bee had never seen Knock Out like this and he had seen him angry. Going off on Bulkhead or Wheeljack even Magnus a few times before but never like this. Never just….blind rage. Bee had never seen Six-point and had honestly crossed off the supposed mystery combiner as just an old Bot myth of the Con’s desperation and even hearing Knock Out admit that had been behind said Combiners creation didn’t give it much weight. This though, the medic’s little outburst, gave it weight. Most mechs hated the Combiners Pit even some of the same side hated them. Bee knew half a dozen mechs who thought the aerialbots were nothing but stuck up new molds who were given a power that was too good for them but none of them hated them like this.

 

“Ye-YEAH! Screw them! I had to deal with them all the time and I can tell you they’re nothing but plugs! Silverbolt is okay though.” More glass fell to the floor as Knock Out uncurled his fist a gently laughter replacing his anger. His snarl turned into a sloppy almost cheshire smile as he brushed off his servo and crossed his arms on the table to rest his head on.

 

“He did seem nice enough. He screamed frequently. Almost made me feel bad when I was bashing his head over our knee.”

 

“You guys really ran into him often? I never saw much of him one I got off planet guess it was for the better. Between two warring gestalts isn’t really the safest place to be.”

 

“I fought with him enough on and off planet but….some things just get passed along the bond as they say. I’m sure if you asked them about me they wouldn’t have very nice things to say. If they knew my name at all. I know this may come as a shock at how ostentatious I am but I did try to keep a low profile back then for the most part. I didn’t want billions of mechs after my head just to fuel my ego. I just liked being the best looking mech in the room or in most cases bombed out wasteland.”

 

Bee relaxed into his seat now that Knock Out had calmed. This certainly wasn’t the silly slag faced Knock Out he had been expecting but they weren’t exactly going over a fun topic. “I’m sure it wasn’t much of a competition. “ Knock Out looked up at him, his borderline terrifying smile still just so.

 

Knock Out straightened up and leaned over the table to give Bee a long kiss on the front of his helm, running his talons along the side of the young warrior’s face.“Oooh Bumblebee~ You’re such a aft kisser.” Bee’s face turned blue, not sure how to respond. “I do love it. It’s much nicer having one than having to be one after all.” Bee placed his servo over Knock Out’s, the medic let him keep it as he fell back into his seat. Bee pulled the servo from his face and held it a bit awkwardly, running his thumb over each of the long talons making Knock Out hum. “What were we talking about before those slaggers?”

 

“Menasor being too stupid to control.”

 

“Ah right. My poor boys~. Shockwave- He advised Megatron to put them out of commission, to just try another group who weren’t so conflicted. Who didn’t literally hate every mech around them deep down. They weren’t very good at pretending when they were Menasor. They couldn’t even bother to act like they were willing to play along. Megatron still refused. He didn’t want to waste an asset so Shockwave turned to me again. I honestly didn’t want to do it. They were….a hassle to me back then. Like a stray animal who followed me around for food. Megatron made it an order. But not to me no, to them! He benched them for the time being and instructed them to follow me around as my bodyguards and annoy me till I fused with them.

 

They were a mess on their own. Selfish and broken. It was like rearing up new molds! They were...strangely likeable underneath it all though. They tried to help as me as much as they annoyed so I would detest them. That was the only thing they could agree on. They wanted me to like them. As I said under their bluster they were still very much Autobots. Soft sparks to certain situations. So I caved. I know it’s hard to imagine a combiner team being their gestalt outside of battle but I spent a lot of personal time with Menasor trying to get to know him as well as the other Stunticons and he was indeed very stupid. But he wasn’t dumb! He was brash and childish. He just wanted to impress everyone. Prove that he was something they shouldn’t have dared throw away. He didn’t trust anyone or believe anyone, not even himself half the time, so he fell for everything. I taught him to trust me. It wasn’t easy. I didn’t manage to get anywhere with them till close to the end of the war but one battle Megatron had called them to form. I think….maybe it was the fifth attack on Iacon. Devastator and Bruticus had gone down and he didn’t want to lose the edge the Cons had so he called them and I told them to go. They were losing to put it lightly when Superion tossed them like an empty cube right onto the building I was working in. I-I think that’s why I have this love hate relationship with my ability. I never really chose to do anything with them it all just happened. Sure at times I was able to tell myself it was my choice but it wasn’t. Not really. I was choosing to do it rather than die and that’s not much of a choice. So...yeah they fell on me. I was….dying. I was surprised they had the sanity to remember I was working in that tiny….I think it was a shopping center, but they pulled me out of the rubble. I didn’t know what else to do so I just asked them to help me…. to trust me. Asked them to let me in. Let me help them. It was horrible. Overwhelming. They were just all screaming. None of them knew what to do. I had to find all of them. I just wanted to do nothing. Let them go on being Menasor. Just take what I needed from them then leave once I was stable...but I had gotten them to trust me...to actually care about me. I hadn’t had anyone who really cared about me in so long. So I pulled them all together. I showed them what we could be together and they followed.

 

That was Six-Point. I wasn’t much of a fighter but I didn’t have to be. Motormaster and Dragstrip are perfect partner’s in crime. They may as well be a scarier version of me and Breakdown. Breakdown and Dead End were great at strategy and defense and Wildrider was in his namesake good at being a wildcard. They were only remembered for their bad traits because no one cared enough about them when they were able to show off their good ones. It was still a struggle. I often had to knock helms but I was used to this. I was the most familiar with being more than one. So they always conceded. They would have been a good team if they had learned to get along. I was just a filter. I just listened to all of them. Decided what needed to stay and what to let go.

 

I made us weaker though, not just because I was just trying to hold on but because I wasn’t wild like them. I wasn’t ruthless yet. I was practical, immoral, perhaps even a tad sadistic but I wasn’t what they were and that had a few downsides. It took me a long time to grasp the idea that I wasn’t two mechs. I wasn’t just a larger mech I was a titan. I was fighting titans. I had to think about things that they would have never thought about. About the mechs below me. About what came next. Five or six steps ahead. Some might argue that that is a better fighter but let’s face it Superion wasn’t the smartest either. He was sane enough but he wasn’t at Megatron or Opimus levels of skill. He was still just a bunch of brats. Still won though and it was really satisfying to rip Superion apart piece by piece. It made the boys happy. He had been on a winning streak after all and they thought he needed to get taught a lesson. I was just mad that I had a Combiner thrown on me. So fair was fair.

 

After the fight I stayed with them together for a few orns. Megatron took his moment to gawk and administer deluded praise. I did my best to not punt him into the sun. After that-It wasn’t as if I could go anywhere with the actual ship so Megs had us fly off to Lockdown and Swindle’s private planet for a bit while we healed up. When I felt good enough to be on my own again I had us separate and Lockdown gave me a new pair of legs! He gave me a few new things I was in rough shape despite everything. Then I had a long talk with the Stunticons. Told them we didn’t have to do anything more together if they didn’t want. They did want. So we went back and fought the good fight till the planet died! Then you know everything up till then so there you go was it worth it?”

 

“I still feel like you glossed over a lot of stuff.”

 

“Because it was boring! Did you really want a cycle to cycle playback of my life. Well here I’ll give you a little taste.” Knock Out steepled his digits and rested his chin on them taking on a barely understandable high class accent. “Dear diary I live with nothing but foul heathens. They all smell awful and look twice as worse. They drink what can only be described as tainted Manganese and I afear that I am starting to enjoy the taste. I sutured a total of twenty dozen poor sparks today without a single thanks. I think I shall take a brief moment to scream into my support block-”

 

“Stop- stop! I get it.” Bee wheezed a bit as he tried to calm his laughter. “I just know you and Shockwave had more history. You created a bunch of weapons and poisons and super soldiers for the Cons but you made it sound so casual like he just tossed you aside. What about the other Cons you fused with? You didn't even mention that!”

 

“Well it was with mostly dead mechs you'd never even know about and as for Shockwave- Ah well….Shockwave didn’t seem to remember any of that when he treated me like glorified lab cart so why should I! Maybe..... when I’m less bitter I’ll tell you about the good old days Shockwave and I had. Till then then our very large pet bird needs his fly around and I need some pavement for these wheels. Wanna come along?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Backstory complete! Next chapter will be a more detailed one of The stunticon's and Knock Out's adventures. So you'll get more of Six-Point. A whole description and everything yeah! After that this story will go into hibernation till someone gives me a request of something they want to see. 
> 
> If you'd like more of this concept but with different characters and like my process I can start a a different story and come up with something that fits the "science" i've built. Till then comment, kudos and requests are always welcome.


	6. Fun And Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Menasor and Knock Out fusion finally!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo last chapter unless anyone has any other fun suggestions! Hope you all like it.

Knock Out hummed softly as Dead End carefully buffed off the old paint off his claws eager to put on a fresh coat. He usually didn’t bother painting his servos since they were normally deep in some poor bots internals but they had been offplanet for what felt like forever now and there hadn’t been any battles so and so no wounded. Now the inconsistency was starting to bother him. The others were working out. Motormaster and Dragstrip had set up some obstacles to keep them in shape and it was fun watching the boys play. Still Knock Out made sure to keep an optic on the overbearing leader as he berated his team for getting soft.

 

As if they had much choice. They had all been stuck in an over stuffed carrier ship thanks to the war finally killing Cybertron for good. Most of the scientists and Primus even the medics, even bad medics like himself, had seen it a long time coming but did Megatron or the Autobots care? Knock Out just felt lucky he made it off the metal husk after a good long scavenge. It was barely half of what he would have liked but it would keep the boys running in the case of disaster.

 

Knock Out leaned to his side and clawed around till he found a sizeable rock. He tossed it up in the air a few times before taking aim to hit the side of Motormaster’s helm with it. It curved a bit to the right but still did the job. The brutish truck was getting a little to agro and was pushing Breakdown’s head into the dirt. Knock Out still didn’t know why the poor scout was the team’s punching bag even after he balanced and upgraded everyone. If anyone was the weak link it was Dragstrip. Having a thinner frame necessary for his position and being selfish in his victories and bratty in his demeanor he was often wounded and pulled off thanks to his weak bond. If his fickle aft could even be convinced to bond at all. Then again Dragstrip put out so it wasn’t really much of a mystery.

 

Motormaster looked over, rage in his optics, and saw Knock Out smiling and laughing curled up from his mirth. The truck’s rage quickly died. “What do you think you’re doing over there?! I’m tryin’ to keep these screw ups in shape and you’re already going easy on one of them!” Motormaster snarled as he glared at Dead End his emotions and tone flipping like a switch. Knock Out threw another rock this time at the trucks chest, baiting him.

 

“Ah well~ The best leaders show as well as tell and I haven’t seen you do much of anything? How do they know what to strive for?”

 

“I’ll show you that they should strive for~” Motormaster pushed Breakdown’s face back down in the dirt as he used the poor mech to lift himself up. Running straight for the little dark blue and gold medic he ignored Knock Out’s playful screams and pulled him into his arms and swung him in a wide circle. Tossing the smaller mech into the air as high as he thought Knock Out could stand again and again. “Do you really think I’ve lost my strength? I was the the only one who bothered to work out while we were on that disgusting ship!” Knock Out screamed louder as his tanks sloshed and his plates twitched. Motormaster was such a showoff. They were all showoffs but Motormaster simply had to prove he was the best.

 

Dragstrip, Wildrider, and Breakdown had pulled themselves up and were glaring at the display. Dead End was staring too but was much less salty about it. It was after all inevitable. Motormaster was such a selfish slagger. He didn’t care that it wasn’t his turn with Knock Out. Knock Out would eventually come back though. He actually appreciated Dead End's work and cleanliness. Balance would be restored. Knock Out never let him down.

 

Dragstrip on the other servo was not so keen on waiting. Using the wheels embedded in his peds he zipped over and jumped off Motormaster to catch Knock Out from the air before he could fall into the leader’s servos again. “Is that really what we should be striving for? I’ve seen Wildrider launch the Boss over a fifty story building. Hmmm~ makes sense now why he’s the mech who supports us all, ain’t that right Wildrider?” With Knock Out safely on his shoulders Dragstrip played keepaway from Motormaster. Despite how much the truck's optics burned or how loudly he growled and swore Dragstrip wasn’t afraid to bait the leader closer only to zip away the last second with the prize. “The Doc knows what’s really important and that’s speed! If you were faster we would never get hit! Ah~ Not every mech can be as fortunate as us though right K.O.? Let’s ditch these slow junkers. You know we’d make a winning team all on our own!”

 

Dragstrip wasn’t expecting Wildrider’s ped behind him. The Speedster crashed to the ground but Knock Out was snatched from the air only to be thrown again. Motormaster lunged over to catch him but Wildrider easily vaulted off his leaders back to snatch Knock Out before the bigger mech could. With Dragstrip back on his peds Wildrider now had two of his teammates to worry about. Which wasn’t much of a challenge for him. With the higher altitudes and further distances though Knock Out was barely keeping his fuel down and he could feel the dent’s forming in aft and thighs. This was starting to be less fun he was starting to get dizzy too! Wildrider laughed like a maniac as he kicked Dragstrip into Motormaster sending them both to the dirt again. “HA! Winners? Nah nah nah nah! Not to mention you’re moves bore me to tears. I’m the only one of us the Doc needs the rest of you are just roadblocks in our way!”

 

As Wildrider dodged back to evade Motormaster he forgot to look to his side. Breakdown’s fist connected square against Wildrider’s head sending the bot flying into Dragsrip. Knock Out shrieked floundering in the air not wanting to land on the small pile of mechs and dent himself any further. He didn’t have to worry though as he twisted and flailed in the air Breakdown easily took a leaping jump and pulled him close to safety. Breakdown could feel the smaller mech’s spark crackling like a star about to go super nova. When would those deluded slaggers learn! “Hey slaggers! How about you stop treating the only mech keeping us alive like a fragging lob!”

 

“You little hunk of sprew! Who in the PIT do you think you are ruining our fun!” Wildrider pushed himself up kicking Motormaster in the side of the head as he scrambled and rushed at Breakdown. Pulling one of his trench knives from his hip he took a couple of swings before he promptly received a face full of Knock Out’s heel wheel.

 

“Fun ruiner or not- I SWEAR TO PRIMUS IF YOU POP ONE OF HIS TIRES YOU’RE LOSING ONE OF YOURS WILDRIDER! OUR PLANET IS A FRAGGING HUSK AND I DON’T HAVE A PERSONAL SHIP TO JUST GO SCROUNGING FOR PARTS FOR YOU BRUTES!” Wildrider blushed and giggled, dropping down to claw around for his knife to hide his face. Knock Out always looked so pretty when he was angry. Such pretty optics. Such shiny fangs.

 

“Aww but Doc~ He’s always a spoilsport.”

 

“I know~” Knock Out lifted Wildrider’s chin with the tip of his ped and flashed the crouching mech a smile. Luckily Heretech and Conduit had made their way over which meant they found energon. There were plenty of scientists and medics on the carrier with him but the Stunticons were a picky bunch. They only trusted energon Knock Out synthesized which meant they all had work to do now. “But playtime is over. Conduit’s here which means energon. You know how lazy those slaggers are. Make you do everything but that just means we get some of the best. So go the three of you! We’ll follow in second.”

 

Motormaster glared at the two mechs in the distance then back at his team. He rolled his optics as he got to Dead End and Breakdown knowing full well the Doc was going to coddle them before sending them off. “Tch You heard the boss! Get your afts moving!” He pulled Dragstrip up with him as he stood, throwing the small mech into Wildrider to get them both walking. Dragstrip rubbed his own dented aft and whined but headed off anyway.

 

With Motormaster and the other two a good distance away Knock Out gave Breakdown a small peck on the cheek. “Thank you for getting me out of that. I don’t mind really but Wildrider plays so rough. He just doesn’t know how hard it is to get dents out of these thighs. Isn’t that right Dead End?” The mech in question picked himself off the ground and neared, his tired soot stained optics brightening a little at his name. As he did Knock Out popped open an arm compartment and pulled out a tiny packet. Dead End rushed forward and waited patiently for Knock Out to get the packet open. Inside were two cleanser soaked wipes, Knock Out pulled out one and carefully leaned over to clean one the other mech’s optics. Minding the area he was using as to not waste the wipe he slowly swiped the grime away letting the brilliant red of Dead End’s optics shine through. He switched corners of the cloth as he moved onto the second humming slightly again as he worked. “We’ll have to be more frugal with these. I only have three boxes left. I’ll save the second one for when you get done mining is that alright?”

 

“I understand.”

 

“I knew you would.” With his optics clean Dead End let his visor fall down before promptly removing it and handing it off to Knock Out. The medic skillfully cleaned the glass front and back not leaving any streak or smudge. “There you go light. All clean.” Dead End felt energon rush to his face. He quickly replaced his visor and bowed out waiting for Knock Out to finish with Breakdown. Knock Out flipped the small cloth over to the cleaner side and gave Breakdown’s face a few good swipes. Unlike Dead End Breakdown didn’t have a visor so cleaning off his optics would be moot. He’d just have to wait. It wasn’t as if Breakdown cared as much as Dead End but Knock Out cared. “Don’t forget to wear your mask this time I don’t need to spend a whole cycle cleaning out your fans.”

 

“I’ll be careful Doc, thanks.” Breakdown took Knock Out’s servo gently in his own and kissed the flat digits.

 

“Mmhmm.” Knock Out slipped his talons free and pet the side of Breakdown’s face. “You two should get going. Motormaster doesn’t need more reason to hound you.” Knock Out slipped from Breakdown’s shoulder and landed firmly on the ground kicking up a small cloud of dust. “I’ll be on the ship in the lab when you’re finished.” Knock Out swayed over brushed his hip against Dead End’s. “ Don’t die. Not today at least.”

 

“Alright K.O. can do.”

 

“That’s my boys. Have fun.”

* * *

 

 Knock Out was greeted by the four scientists and five other medics in the lab. Not exuberantly but consciously at least. Tripdeck was the only one who bothered to follow him. A hopeful smile on his face. As Knock Out pulled up a seat Tripdeck pulled out a stool right across from him. “So~ What’s it like out there?”

 

“You’ve got legs. Go outside for once in your life.” The other medic pouted. Knock Out could be so cold sometimes.

 

“Come on~ You know how gross some of these organic worlds can be! You’re the only medic lucky enough to have a full team of bodyguards.”

 

“Lucky? It wasn’t luck I helped make them. You’re lucky I let any of you losers live. I could have had them stomp on any or all mechs on this useless tin can and taken the ship for myself!”

 

“Yeah, yeah. No one’s denying your skill here I just want to know if it’s one of the mushy ones. Hopefully a nice place to drive?”

 

“Did it stop down pouring because when we first landed it was disgusting outside?” Redring, one of the aerial scientists had made her way over now and was leaning on Tripdeck. As a tall and rather bulky gun ship she was practically at a ninety degree angle.

 

“Every single one of you has optics. It takes like five seconds to go outside. Why do you never leave this lab?” A chorus of voices answered him.

 

“The other mechs.”

 

“The smell of the other mechs.”

 

“The neediness of other mechs.”

 

“My axles bowed!”

 

“My aileron is stuck!”

 

“My plugs been throbbing all cycle~ It’s your job to fix that right?”

 

“The ship’s engines are smoking you’re practically an engineer get in there!”

 

“This energon tastes like SLAG! What do we even pay you idiots for? You don’t even have wheels! What good are you?” The excuses went on, Knock Out conceded.

 

“Alright! Alright, but you don’t think I get that too. Half of those things you just complained about are part of your actual jobs. All of you are the reason I don’t get any recharge at night!”

 

One of the other medics let out a scornful highpitched laugh “Oh come on K.O. You wouldn’t get recharge at night anyway. Something would keep you up one way or another~”

 

“Too busy earning those extra chits.”

 

“Gotta pay the dealers somehow.”

 

Knock Out rolled his optics at the other mech's taunts. Was that really all they had? “Enough. I appreciate the jealousy I really do but I’d be getting a lot better frags if I wasn’t being busted in on repeatedly before I ever get to the good part. One of you at least do your goddamn jobs for me! Even just you know a little bit I know it’s been a long time. Gotta walk before you can fly and all that.” Knock Out glared at Precipa. She was the damn femme with an engineering degree she never used but loved to brag about. Precipa looked up from her datapad, her optics glossy. She’d been hitting something.

 

“But you do such a good job already~ Such a useful, pretty little slave~ Bet the captain loves the way you keep the engine’s running and his berth warm~ Does it feel good to be filling your function again K.O.?” Knock Out didn’t get time to react. Redring grabbed on of the stools next to her and threw it at the other femme cracking her hard in the face and sending her flying off her chair. Redring was from the pits. She didn’t play around with teasing of status. Even light teasing.

 

“SAY THAT SLAG AGAIN AND YOU’LL BE SERVING YOUR NEW FUNCTION AS MY SPIKE WARMER! I’LL FRAG THAT PRETTY LITTLE AFT FLAT IN THE TIME IT TAKES FOR A BATCH OF ENERGON TO REFINE FOR MY PRIMUS BLESSED VICTORY DRINK!” Knock Out would have felt bad for the other femme if he knew she wasn’t leaking her panels right now. Most of the crew had a crush on Redring and with good reason. She was beautiful, smart, and ferocious, not to mention she probably had one of the best spike’s on the ship and long sturdy digits. Even Motormaster often got jealous of her. The fact that she and Knock Out were in rather close quarters and he fit her interests rather nicely often worried the truck to the point of selfish stupidity. Knock Out knew better. Redring had her optics set on someone smaller. Luckily she always saw Motormaster’s displays as fun challenges so Knock Out had never had to break up a fight.

 

“It wasn’t raining when I was outside but it may likely be now. The atmosphere on this planet is strange I think it rains often here. There isn’t any wind though so I think the air remains warm no matter what. You could probably have a nice fly despite it. Can’t say the same for a drive though. The earth’s hard but it’s still covered in organic flora if you don’t mind washing it off your wheels though it’s doable.” Redring cooled down in an instant.

 

“Ah well, as long as it’s warm. Do you wanna go for a fly around with me Rx?” Redring sauntered over the short distance and flashed a devious smile at the minifemme. Rx didn’t bother looking up from her work but nodded. “Excellent! Let’s go!” The mute little femme squawked a bit as she was torn away from her work but quickly settled, resigned to her fate. As Redring carried her off she tossed her datapad with the blueprints on it to Knock Out.

 

Knock Out caught them with a sigh and stood to finish up the work. Rx was the only other medic who helped around here and the poor darling was barely taller than the ped she was working on. Tripdeck followed, the idea of coating his wheels in grass obviously a turnoff. Knock Out couldn’t blame his fellow medics for not wanting to leave the safety of the medbay or even avoiding their work. For most things it really was above their paygrade. Sure they were medics but they weren’t Doctors or nurses….well Tripdeck was a nurse but he was too….vulnerable to touch starved soldiers looking for any excuse to rustle up a good time. Most saw doctors and medics as the same thing but ask any Con medic and they couldn’t disagree more. Being a Con medic one wasn’t trained to cure illness or act as a comforting servo in a time of distress one was trained to patch up,replace, and refuel. Anything to get good soldiers back on the field. Unlike the other medics he had been unlucky enough to get stuck with ,except Conduit, Knock Out had been in the field. He worked in the warzone and before he had the Stunticons he had to rely on other mechs to have his back. That meant he didn’t have the luxury of refusing a good soldier who perhaps just wanted a good preening or a tank whose “treds had unaligned”, Even now with the Stunticons it was a hard habit to break.

 

Now that the planet was gone they would have to learn quickly that they couldn’t be as stingy or cold with their skills and time as they liked. Rx understood but as a minibot she had no problem with kind sparks keeping an optic on her and Tripdeck was wise enough to take his tools to the Vehicon quarters once the ship quieted down but the others…...they’d be dead if they didn’t have Conduit keeping his pretty flock. The mech might have been a lunatic but no one could say he didn’t care.

 

Speaking of the faith healer and his flock the medbay doors were suddenly pulled open and a wild opticed Heretech stormed in straight for Knock Out. Knock Out barely had time to stand and address the second in command when he was suddenly grabbed by one of his back wheels and yanked up and away. The halls sped by in a blur as Heretech ran through the ship, the hazy form of Redring just barely out in the hall as well. Not saying a word about what the rush was for. Knock Out tried to turn a bit to look but didn’t get very far. “Umm Heratech what’s the rush? You do know I can drive yes?”

 

“You will have to forgive me if I smudge the paint Doctor but we’ve got friends and your best friend is with them. We can’t lose this mine and we can’t let this fight go on long enough to do damage either. We tried being civil I promise but you know how arrogant those Bots are when they separate. They think everything belongs to them and everything has to be a fight.” Knock Out groaned. “Agreed. They need to be handled though and let’s face it Menasor has only gotten worse without you.”

 

“I can’t be with them all the time! That wasn’t the point of making them in the first place!”

 

“Well if you can manage to make a new team who won’t go aggro on us and has better processor function than a wounded thunderhound then you can be free but until then Menasor is all we have and they need you either with them or….you know more with them.”

 

“Such an elegant wordsmith you are Heretech have you been learning from Conduit.” Knock Out swore he saw the sixer blush.

 

“I...haven’t gotten to spend as much time with him as I would have liked. Deathsaurus is so picky it seems every place we land on is not good enough! We have the means to form a new planet why pick one so far from Cybertron when we’ll have to go back to Cybertron to gather supplies?”

 

Knock Out did not need to know that information. “Perhaps because we keep getting followed by Autobots. He probably wants to go somewhere where we can live in peace and to be honest I’m ok with that.”

 

“Perhaps. Still it will be an inconvenience if we can’t find a good candidate close to another mech inhabited world. I really would like to not start from nothing.”

 

“Can’t disagree with that.” As Knock Out resettled he could see Redring about a foot back following, her axe already thrown over her shoulder. She had likely doubled back to drop her beloved mini off but now her optics were sparking with the thrill of a good fight. “Looks like we’ve got help.” Heretech turned for a second and nodded as he continued to run.

 

“It is nice to have help.”

* * *

 

 

Back outside Heretech dropped Knock Out to his peds and the two surveyed the scene. The mine was still perfectly intact but there were already a few downed mechs decorating the ground and they were a little close for comfort. In the distance Knock Out could see the two titans duking it out. Heretech looked down at him. “Well what are you waiting for?”

 

“Just seeing if I can notice anything important before I’ve got five mechs screaming in my audial. It’s called strategy Heretech I know you have the luxury of not using it much but for smaller mechs like me it’s quite necessary.”

 

“Well once you’re with them you won’t be a small mech anymore so go!” Knock Out stumbled but managed to do a messy flip into his transformation with a bit of elegance. His wheels hit the ground with a thud but they caught instantly and as he sped off through the small battle his tires kicked up grass and dust. As he swerved and skidded most Cons jumped out his way and some Bots tried to grab at him. They may have not known him by name but they knew about the real menace Menasor could be when he had the right mech by his side. They weren't going to take chances.

 

Before transforming back Knock Out honked his horn loudly and flashed his brights. It didn’t get him much attention from Menasor but Superion definitely noticed. He didn’t bother looking just blindly stomped at his side. Hoping one of his attacks would crush the pesky medic. Knock Out dodged, just barely transforming to and from alt mode just to speed away in time. The other gestalt's strange behavior piqued Menasor’s attention. He looked down at the ground, wildly searching for someone more than an over ambitious con with a decent laser rifle until they caught a beautiful flash of jewel toned blue. They snarled loudly at the other titan for even trying to hurt Knock Out but the medic’s arrival put them off guard just enough for Superion to clock them upside the head.

 

Knock Out leapt away from the immediate danger but still had the shock wave and the dust cloud to contend with. He steadied himself and covered his optics the best he could but he still felt as if a truckload of dirt had just been dumped all over him as his plates rattled painfully. With Menasor on the ground it would be easier to reach them but he had to keep Superion busy. He clawed around his back for his staff digging through a fair about of dirt to pull out the slightly packed in tip, As he pulled it free the two prongs flared out and the energon rod in the center started to glow and kick up sparks. He quickly dialed up the power and took aim; the extending electrical sparks making his own digits twitch a bit. It certainly wouldn’t be enough to bring them down but it would stall them long enough.

 

The shot went lower than desired but his folly turned out in his favor. The staff fell short of the titans neck but slipped into the seam on his back and a small plume of smoke billowed out as the prod pierced a fuel line. Superion howled and writhed trying to rid themselves of the annoyance as Knock Out raced over to his own downed gestalt. Menasor rolled over on his side as Knock Out neared, optics alreading begging to be whole again. Knock Out braked hard as the gestalt’s servo suddenly loomed over him, transforming in a flash before it started to wrap around him. He could never seem to get over the panic it caused to be picked up by the titan. Knock Out knew Menasor would never hurt him on purpose. Menasor loved him more than any of the Stunticons individually but he was such a clumsy boy.

 

Menasor pulled Knock Out close to his face admiring the tiny jewel of a mech. “Doctor~” Knock Out looked up at them his tiny optics filled with fear. He looked so tired, so worn with scraped paint smeared with dirt. It wasn’t right. His jewel deserved better. He deserved to be treated as he was! A RARITY! NOT LIKE SOME DAMN COMMON SLUM MECH! WHO DID THOSE SLAGGERS THINK THEY WERE TRYING TO HURT HIM! THEY WERE GOING TO PAY!

 

Knock Out followed Menasor’s gaze to check to see if Superion was still flailing. He wasn’t. They didn’t have much time. Knock Out ran a servo down Menasor’s face pulling his attention back. “Come on now darling we can be angry when we’re together.” Knock Out hoped the urgency in his voice would keep their attention as he opened his chest plates for them. Instead of mimicking the gesture though Menasor nuzzled him and gently kissed Knock Out’s open chest.

 

Knock Out swore internally, annoyed by the titan's wayward priorities but his rage quickly cleared as the soft heat of genesis took over his frame. He pressed his frame closer against Menasor’s face and continued his soft strokes. “I know. Now let me in.” The light turned blinding and the last thing he heard was the Autobot swearing as he realized the fight was not in his favor any longer.

 

The ringing in his audials cleared as fell into Menasor arms. Equal parts cradled and suffocated by the titan’s affections. Even in the strange plain he had created for himself being in Menasor’s arms scared him and it hurt a bit, it shouldn’t be like this. Still he pushed it down. Menasor raised him up and nuzzled him again trailing kisses up and down his frame. “Doctor. Alright?”

 

Knock Out shivered as his spark and processor throbbed. Even such a simple statement quickly turned into a cacophony of different phrases. Menasor may have been one being but he was made up of five others and in this state Knock Out heard and felt all of them. Not just Menasor himself but each of the Stunticons as well. It was a daunting effort for a mech like him who hadn’t even been trained to use his own abilities to suddenly sort through and unify such a mess. “I’m doing fine. Now what depraved thing should we do to this slagger?”

* * *

 

 Supeiron glowered as he looked down at the monstrosity that rolled away from his kick. Six-point. Even the name was disgusting. It wasn’t fair. IT WASN’T FAIR! They themselves had been created through a holy relic why was this disgusting mess of a mech so much better than them! The Con looked up at them, a smile on their painted face. So sure, so arrogant of themselves. Deep inside Superion hoped that they were starving as much as they looked it. He hoped they were in pain. Hoped he could make things quick.

 

Six-point stood and righted their heavy headdress of a helm. Not much taller than Menasor but infinitely more unsuited for battle Six-point’s beautiful armor hung from their bare bones frame. A mess of struts and wires in a beautiful costume. They were the perfect hack job, dull and worn, gaudy and proud. A mech built up as if from scrap metal, best intentions, and lofty dreams. They blew Superion a kiss as they all but danced from side to side taunting the other gestalt. Their long layered hip skirts jangling with every sway. “Miss me brats?” They spoke with a perfect pitched Iacon accent in an almost singsong whine that grated Superion’s nerves and audials.

 

As they stroked their long curved back horns and delicately placed the long ornaments of their helm Superion seethed. No longer the pompus arrogant slag spitting tormenter he had been a few klicks ago. After all how could he, they had never actually beaten Six-point and that fact burned. They would need to taunt the brute back out. Silverbolt knew how hard it was to keep his teammates in line at times. All they had to do was get the poor mystery Con to crack under the pressure. “You should let Menasor come back out and play.”

 

“Well you should get lost because playtime’s over! This is your only chance. You don’t want me getting nasty do you?” Their bait had almost no effect. Six-point responded far too quickly.  
Superion didn’t get a chance to respond back. “Too late.”

 

In a flash Six-point transformed, one monstrosity replacing another. The large avian creature screamed it’s call, shrill and sharp, and Superion barely had a klick to think before it took to the air and came down in a whirlwind of color. It’s large gold zygodactyl talons tore into Superion’s shoulders and dragged him up beyond the clouds leaving the screaming soldiers behind them. Superion aimed his weapon but was dropped like a stone. The flashy monsters long tail wrapping around him and throwing him higher. Six-point just loved to play with it’s friends.

 

Superion aimed again as the other mech flew back. The shot hit but did next to nothing. The wound spurting energon for a few klicks before sealing up. The damn medic's auto repair not even slowed a bit. Suddenly Superion’s gun was torn from his servo. Then his arm torn from his frame, tossed off into the distance. Six-point flipped Superion and grabbed him by his thick spine tossing him up and letting him fall again and again like a new mold and a toy ball. Superion grabbed for his other gun and gripped it tight. He fired two shots at the wings, a few of the weaker feather like plates falling off in the breeze as the gunsmoke cleared. Silverbolt tried his best to block out Air Raid and Slingshot who were already screaming, already panicking, but Skydive's knowing assurance simply wasn’t enough. He could feel himself slowly coming undone.

 

Six-point laughed nasally and manic at the failed attempt. He did a flashy front spin and landed heavily on the other mech talons sinking into Superion’s chest. They refused to scream instead letting their vocalizer short out as the monster hounding them trilled happily anyway. They vented sharply and tried to re-calibrate their systems managing one to give some kind of a retort. “SCREW YOU CON! YOU WERE NOTHING AND YOU’RE STILL NOTHING! YOU’RE JUST A CHEATER!”

 

“Oooh~ I knoooowww~ It’s just no fair!” Six-point mocked the other gestalt mercilessly, a giggle bubbling in his vocalizer. He just loved watching the little Autobrats become their true selves again.“Are you not having fun with me anymore? You get so mean when you’re losing.” Superion tried to aim and fire again but Six-point’s beak was sharp and quick. They could only watch in horror as their servo was torn from its socket and tossed like garbage. “Perhaps you’re just worried about poor Fireflight. We should send someone to go look for him. How. About. You!”  
Six-point’s optics turned to pinpoints as he drove his beak into Superions left hip seam. This time ripping a scream from the other titian as they pulled on taut wires and snipped them with ease.  
“NO!” The Combiner’s voice changed for a moment, suddenly shrill and begging as he tried to grab at the bird by it’s neck to throw it off. Six-point evaded easily and sniped another few wires.

 

“Oh what you need this? You need this leg? You’re in the air falling to your death little light it’s dead weight. I’m helping! I promise~”

 

“NO!” Six-point only laughed and trilled as he tore the leg off. The snapped wires sparking wildly as energon leaked from the shorn fuel lines. Silverbolt felt his own spark start to go tight as he and his brothers watched a part of them get kicked away and fall into the unknown below.

 

“Now. Now. Let’s see what else you don’t need.”

 

What was left of the great Autobot titan awoke to the sound of soft jingling hip skirts and a comforting touch. “Wake up~ Wake up little Silverbolt I know there’s some Energon left in that tank of yours.” Superion forced his optics online and shivered as waves of pain and nausea washed over him. Six-point was standing above him singing softly as they danced in a small circle around him, wrapping a thick chain around as they went as if he could go anywhere. “This is so you can’t fight back any if the local fauna perchance have a strong taste for metal. I’m sure they deserve a tasty snack.” Superion scoffed. “Just kidding! I’m not an idiot it’s to stall your little Autobot friends.”

 

“YOU!” Superion seethed with rage and wanted to fight but with only Silverbolt left the thought quickly died. “Y-you aren’t going to kill me?” Without his team’s bravado behind him Superion sounded just as he was, like a helpless new mold barely out of the guard.

 

“No! No, no,no,no,no I’m not.” Six-point knelt and ran a slender servo down Superion’s face again. He tried to twitch away the feeling no longer comforting now that he knew who it belonged to. “I’m going to get myself some new plane parts and then come back and kill all your friends.”

 

“N-no-NO WAY CON!” Superion tried to lunge forward to do….ANYTHING to the monster in front of him….but the chains were just too tight and he was all alone.”

 

“Aww. Don’t be a spoilsport. Tell you what for being such a trooper and not dying how about I help with the pain a bit? Would you like that?”

 

“NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! GET AWAY FROM ME CON!” Superion struggled and flailed but felt the Con’s cold talons still him with ease. Then the shling of transformation. Then the needle in his neck.

 

“Let this be a lesson young one. This is what happens when you have everything given to you on a silver platter. I hope you enjoy praying for your precious Prime while I’m dismantling your brothers.” Six-point placed a long slow kiss on the Autobot’s cheek before standing with a flourish and disappearing off into the brush.

* * *

Knock Out was suddenly ripped from his revelry by pain as something heavy collided with him. Mortified he looked down at his dented chest plate and cracked window and then at the heavy metal ball by his peds. "SERIOUSLY! I LEAVE THE SAFETY OF THE NEMESIS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A JOOR AND IMMEDIATELY GET ASSAULTED!" 

 

Bulkhead retreated into himself a bit as he  quickly sucked in air through his vents. "S-sorry K.O. Didn't know how zoned out you were. All the others left when we started playing." Knock Out's optics darted about the room, he was indeed alone with the brutes. "I-it was Onslaught's fault! He was supposed to catch it!"

 

"Why aren't you playing outside? In the pavilion?" 

 

"Come on it's freezing out there. Once we get the gym finished you'll never have to deal with us again. Till then it's not our fault you zoned out. He already said sorry just let it go." Wheeljack shrugged his shoulders and gave Knock Out a cocksure grin holding his servos up for the ball. Judging from the look on the medic's face though there was no chance in hell this was going to end clean.

 

"SUCK ON MY TAILPIPE, HOW ABOUT THAT!" Knock Out picked up the ball and sent it hurdling at Wheeljack's head. Not really expecting that much show of force Wheeljack ducked out of the path of the ball letting it get lodged in the wall.

 

"HEY! Come on Knock Out. Now I gotta fix that. I'm sorry about your door I really didn't mean it. We just thought you were enjoying the show."

 

"ENJOYING THE SHOW?" Knock Out's face was almost entirely tinted blue. He had been enjoying the show at first but to the pit if he wanted them to know that. "A CHANCE IN THE PRIMUS FORSAKEN PIT!

 

"Aww don't be that way Doc~ I know what will make you feel better." Onslaught took a running leap and pulled himself up onto the platform Knock Out was on. Suddenly pulling the smaller mech up into his arms bridal style. " Boys, Doc's only bitter because he's used to being the ball so Bulkhead, catch!" Knock Out didn't have the time to even turn and claw at the other Cons face before he felt himself sailing through the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Six-point. He's...supposed to be creepy and junkion like I suppose and yet he's pretty and gaudy because they're all about putting on a good show. I imagine he looks like he's just trying too hard. A lot of ill fitting armor and a fancy helm that would look sort of like a Greek diadem and a Chinese opera headpiece. Something a performer in a play at Yuess would wear. They're skinny to conserve energon mostly. putting most of their metal in practically costume armor while compounding the rest to make that they do have of their structure extremely durable. Their alt is something like a peackock griffon but more cybertronian themed I suppose. I really wanted them to be grounders and I'm sure it was hard for Knock Out to get them on a beast mode but thought that since Superion is made up of aerial bots but can't fly that the fact that they could fly would really be a slap in the face. Like an "oh you were so much better separate what are you even doing together?" type of thing. Hope you don't mind me being mean to Superion in this one but it's supposed to be cannon that the Bots didn't win many battles and let's face it Superion as far as I remember it is made up of dicks. There's really no reason he should be any better than the Con gestalts to be honest. Anyway kudos. Comments. Requests as always.


	7. Mirrorworld

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a bit of Jumpcut past. How he came to be and all.

Some of the worst shit always happened on the battlefields but even worse things happened off them. When mechs were at ease, when they felt safe for a moment. At least... as safe as they could feel. Sometimes these things even happened to the best of the best. Knock Out nearly had a panic attack when some panting bruiser set Soundwave down on his table. He’d been studying under the other Decepticon medics for a while now but having a patient like Soundwave was still out of the question for him. Luckily there were others then to take his place and as soon as news got around they were there in an instant pushing him aside. A little rude considering he had done just fine stabilizing the dying mech but he didn’t really want to be there if things went south. And they eventually did go south. Still that wasn’t the last Knock Out would see of they dying spy, not by a long shot.

With all of his minicons out on recon Soundwave had been left barren and alone. The perfect time for Autobot snipers to strike and they made sure to get him as dead as they could. Bullet holes riddled the spy’s thin frame, so badly that some pieces of him were falling off or completely useless. Add the head injury and it wasn’t a surprise that the third in command had gone comatose in less than a cycle. The superior medics did everything they could to keep the officer online but cycles quickly passed and with the war and battles still raging having a table constantly taken up was sniping at their circuits. They eventually moved Soundwave back to his room and all but left him there as living memorial under Lord Megatron’s orders but the ones who needed the spy most sought out other options to save their lost carrier.

The medics had promised the small group they had done all they could do but one of them certainly hadn’t. The twins didn’t know Knock Out well. He was talkative and friendly and much more tolerable than the other medics but having just joined the ranks he was a nobody. Still he had a reputation as most Cons with special powers did. Everyone knew what they could do but knew almost nothing about them. So determined the minicons devised a plan. Leaving Ravage and Laserbeak with their master Frenzy and Rumble snuck off through the halls to the medical sector of the ship. Things had been quiet so there was a good chance that they could find Knock Out in his room as long as mech wasn’t off somewhere spending his limited personal time.

To be honest it was less of a plan and more of a pitch. As Soundwave’s minicons and officers in their own right the twins could do as they pleased but getting mechs to use their powers was like pulling denta and that was just getting Skywarper to take them down to new planets or breaking the news to Volttrap that the ship’s engines went bust and they needed her to act as a generator. This was asking practically a stranger to kind of like spark bond with their carrier to see if he could speed us his recovery and fix his processor and they didn’t even know if it would work!.If Knock Out was as nice as he acted though he would at least think about it right? At least listen to them? The longer they stood outside the medics door the less they believed in the cause. It…..really was a lot to ask and to risk.

Frenzy was the one who mustered up the courage and finally pounded on the medic’s door. Tiny fists shaking with fear that things were going to turn into a spark snuffing disaster. What they got was a sleepy mess. Knock Out took one look at them and let them in, still rubbing at his smudged optics

“What in the Pit are you two doing at my door this late? If something’s changed with Soundwave you should probably go tell Whiplash or Flatline or better yet Conduit. Soundwave was a fan of his healing.”

Rumble shuffled his peds as he kept his gaze to the floor. “It’s more about what’s not happening Doc. It’s been forever and well….we don’t wanna give up on the boss but Megs wants us out in the field. I know most mechs don’t see us as anything more the the boss’s minions but if the boss ain’t there we are still competent soldiers.”

“Well I don’t quite know what you want from me Frenzy-”

“Rumble.”

“Sorry-”

“S’alright we change paint to fuck with mechs and you’re new so who cares. Listen we...we don’t really know how your powers work but we asked around- At least Scrapper and them- well they say they form some kind of spark bond and bonds are powerful things and we sort of have one with the boss but nothing like-”

“We want you to fuse with the boss to see if you can wake him up! You’re a medic and you’re the last genesis mech so it’s like your duty to help us! ” Frenzy quickly turned away from his stalling brother knowing his twins outburst was coming.

“BRO!”

“YOU WERE STALLIN’!”

“THIS IS A TACTFUL-”

“HEY! Can we stop yelling?” The twins quickly turned quiet, apologizing in unison.”Thank you. Now….listen. Don’t think I don’t want to help you save your carrier because I do but-”

“Oh here it comes.”Frenzy elbowed Rumble in the chest but in truth he was disappointed too.” Knock Out looked undeterred though.

“But. Ignoring all the lists of possible injuries and malfunctions I could face by synergising with a processor damaged bot…..there is the issue of consent here. Should this work and I do bring him back to functioning, something which I have never done, I would like to live when we eventually separate. Soundwave isn’t exactly a social bot now is he?” The twins looked at each other unsure….they hadn’t been thinking about that.

“Well you’re a Con right? Through and through? Boss’s entire loyalty is to the cause and the mechs who help it! If you did anything to help him continue that he’d be okay with it!” Knock Out looked down at Frenzy, an unsure look on his face. Did the twins know? Did they know how he came to be with the Cons? Loyalty wasn’t exactly part of it.

“Sure...of course.”

“Well then it’s fine! Listen Doc we understand if you don’t want to do it but can….can you at least think about it? And….fast?” Rumble grabbed at Knock Out’s wrist and tried to get the mech down to his level. Knock Out followed humoring the mini.

“How fast are you talking? There are dozens of factors to worry about and those are just if this just barely works!”

“Fast. Megs wants us out in the field by the next battle and….he even has a new carrier for us if he feels we can’t work sufficiently on our own. Ravage and Laserbeak won’t even get that chance!” Frenzy tugged at the medic’s other arm trying to play up the sympathy as much as he could. “Doc no mechs gonna treat them like the boss did. They’re just not!”

“Okay! Okay. I understand. Let’s go.” Knock Out hated himself for falling for the twins ploy so quickly but their fear and urgency were real and he wasn’t sparkless. He knew what it was like to lose someone one was attached so closely to.

Inside Soundwave’s personal quarters Knock Out felt his spark start to flux. This really was a terrible idea but the twins were clutching at him so tightly, he could feel their fields, their fear, he really was their last chance. As he looked the comatose spy over Laserbeak and Ravage settled by him as well, purring and pecking their sorrows gently.

“So Doc is there anything we can do for you?” Impatient as always Frenzy wanted to get right to it. Guess there wasn’t much time to stall.

“Well...first thing I suppose is if you can help me establish a connection with him. I can’t do it how I normally would so...if you can still attempt to connect and fuse with him for me I can try to use that.”

“Are you sure that’s gonna work? We tried connecting to the boss a dozen times already! We can connect to the Boss hardware but there’s just nothing going on upstairs. ‘S like trying to marionet a corpse.”

“That’s….a lovely visual Rumble.” Knock Out tried not to grimace, the thought of what could happen to him sickening him to his tanks the longer he was forced to think about it.

“S’true. We couldn’t keep it up it was so exhausting. We tried making it work though.”

“Well hopefully I won’t get the same thing….my abilities are...different to say the least. Same idea different connection. Mine’s a total spark connection.”

“Ooh~ fancy.” Knock Out had to laugh at the bitter tone to Frenzy’s words. He couldn’t really blame him, he was sure the mini was just upset he couldn’t help his carrier himself.

Still that didn’t mean he was going to take the mini’s sass. “Exploitable.”

“Sorry Doc.”

“It’s alright. So…..yeah. Let me switch the berth to an upright position and then you two do your thing.”

As soon as Knock Out started moving around Laserbeak and Ravage slunk off out of the way. Getting Soundwave in place took too little time for Knock Out’s nerves but there really was no way to plan this sort of thing. Synergy was so simple usually, flirt a little bit, get the other mech comfortable enough and then it just sort of happened as soon as he pinged the other mech... but this wasn’t the same. This was awkward.

Inches away from the spy Knock Out bared his spark to Soundwave as Frenzy and Rumble tried to connect. The officers plates spread and separated letting his spark shine in the heavy darkness but nothing happened. It just wasn’t the same connection Soundwave was used to. “Well…..didn’t really know what I was expecting from him honestly. His walls are too good for me. I don’t even know where to start trying to hack them and I’m not high enough in the ranks to have that sort of programming to override them yet.”

“There has to be something you can do! Can’t you go like….steal it! Maybe we can steal it for you! Where do they keep that sort of stuff?” With their tiny chests open Knock Out could see the mini’s sparks strobing with their desperation.

“I’m sure I can get it Rumble but….is there something you can do to bypass his security? Do you have an emergency signal you can send to him? That usually breaks firewalls for a second or two.”

“The Boss is the only one who really has that sort of thing. I think we could activate it but we’re all gonna get dragged onto him. You gonna be able to handle us all?”

“Absolutely not but….you’re not really the same thing...if you’re just on him it might be okay...or you might just get rejected or...I might end up fusing with one of you instead I’m really not sure.”

“You don’t you know how your powers work?!” Rumble glared up at the younger mech a bit distraught now, the reality of the risks sinking in now.

“Not with comatose mechs! It’s….fine just try.”

“Whatever you say Doc.” Rumble shrugged his shoulders then reared back as best as he could before Frenzy could react and socked his twin very close to his open chest and true to Soundwave’s parental nature the spy’s thin frame put out a brilliant purple light, calling all the symbiotes sparks to his and taking Knock Out’s along for the ride.

With the other mechs technically all being a part of Soundwave Knock Out had thought it would be okay to have them along..but it wasn’t. Together with all the mini’s sparks so close to his, even not trying to merge...just there.... everything felt so hot he couldn’t stand to be near it. He stuck it out longer than he usually did, searching for the spy’s own spark but as pushed and struggled he quickly tired. Panic quickly setting in his spark merged with the closest thing it could before blowing him back out.

Knock Out felt his still near molten frame smack against a wall...but it wasn’t entirely his frame anymore. Someone else was in his head with him. Someone panicking. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his chest he went to find who he’d managed to fuse with.

Outside the twins quickly detached from their carrier and quizzically watched the new erratic mech that was pacing just by the door as they waited for Ravage and Laserbeak to follow suit. Ravage slunk off the carriers frame but Laserbeak didn’t. Quickly coming to understand what happened Frenzy ran to help the “new” mech.

“ ‘Ey Doc! It didn’t work. You got Laserbeak instead are you okay?” They clearly weren’t, the bright light coming from their visor scanning back and forth again and again as they continued to pace.

“Everything! Everywhere! New! New! Strange! Strange!” Yelling and pounding on them didn’t seem to work at all and Frenzy and Rumble were just about to give up and go to another medic to fix the one they just broke when all of a sudden the mech flipped like a switch. Their helm shifting and pulling back to reveal a new pale face dotted with five sets of brilliant flashing gold optics. “Laserbeak turn the cameras off please you’re killing me!”

Knock Out covered his new optics to block out the constant flash of dozens of different scenes but it wasn’t till he prompted his new sparkmate that his vision cleared relieving his processor of the throbbing pain instantly. Sighing, he uncovered his face and saw the twins flanking his hips, visors pink with worry. “Doc you still in there? You’re optics started going dark so we thought you were glitching out!”

“Yeah you alright? You turned into a birdbrain for a sec. Is Laserbeak manning the controls in there?” Knock Out laughed and placed a comforting servo to the top of Frenzy and Rumble’s helms.

“No she just didn’t know what was going on. We didn’t exactly meet in the middle so scared, alone, and overstimulated she tried to get out.. She’s not exactly on the highest spectrum of cognitivity but well...let me just say those Ambus test enthusiasts never had a “lesser” being in their processors with them. Let me tell you Laserbeak has plenty to say and she’s saying it.” Knock Out sighed as he looked for someplace to sit down. “Still it’s...not exactly the same as if would be if I had gotten one of you two. She has few wants and to be honest I’m surprised I ended up with legs and arms. I found her and calmed her down and she’s getting used to our new form now so she’s okay but it might be best we separate before she gets too used to the new form and she realizes she has equal control and wants to go on a joyride.”

“Wait Doc but if you got Laserbeak she can help you break the boss’ walls to get you both in! With less of us you won’t get so lost.”

“I’ve never done that before. I can’t just tac on another mech when I’m already with someone so I don’t know if Laserbeak even can. We’re not exactly a symbiote anymore.”

“Well ask her! Come on Doc I know we’re asking a lot from ya but-” Rumble mirrored his brothers frustration and fear before Knock Out cut them both off.

“Yes, yes! Alright I understand. Primus give a mech some time to cool down then this isn’t easy. I’m not saying I won’t try boys I’m just letting you know the odds as it were.”

“Sorry KO it’s just...”

“We don’t want the odds we want this to work!” Knock Out gave the twins another few pats on the back before stepping towards Soundwave again.

“I know, I do too but I am trying my best. Forgive me for not trying to push myself but you have to remember my….limitations. I’m not fully functional.”

“That’s just slag you and Shockwave came up with! We know you can do this don’t we guys!” Again Frenzy mimicked his twins cheer, even getting Ravage to rub up against him to show his own agreement.

“I really don’t need your pep talk ,honestly it’s only going make me feel worse if this doesn’t work so just….thank you but quiet please.” Turning his focus inward Knock Out pet the spybird perched on his shoulder. Laserbeak was cuddling him so closely now, her plates all splayed and humming with her nerves.

 _“I know. You want to go home to him. I think I can get this eventually I really do but….just not how quickly you might need it.”_ Laserbeak nudged her wedged visor against the crook of the medic’s neck, pecking him again and again.

 _“New master? Stay together?”_ Her voice was soft and lilting and held just the hint of humor but it was still a serious request.

_“I don’t think Megatron would just give a rookie medic like me the literal database of Soundwave’s hidden cameras but I’m honored you like me enough considering this is the most time we’ve spent together…... ever and to be brutally honest I didn’t think of you as this…..capable myself.”_

_“Shiny medic! Wide perches~ You’re forgiven.”_ Knock Out laughed softly and gave the long seam on Laserbeak’s head a few strokes as she nuzzled his neck again.

_“Well thank you I do try my best. We shouldn’t be so defeatist though and we’re spinning our wheels just standing here. I’ve had enough of a rest. Let’s give this another shot.”_

Back out with the twins Frenzy and Rumble watched the new fusion stand over their boss, sparks pressed together, lights flickering and flaring, but not much else. Then the new bot called out to the spy. A series of small chirping echoes that stirred the carrier.

Laserbeak continued to ping her master till her new frame suddenly began to react. Shifting and separating. Knock Out at her side seething in pain as his own parts were torn with hers. She nuzzled the other mech more fervently, pecking and chewing on cables, locking her claws in place to keep him close.

The others watched as Knock Out and Laserbeak’s new form shifted and contoured around the spy bulking him out beyond belief, creating the most imposing looking armor they had ever seen but it only lasted a moment before every part of the mech turned white and molten. Whatever Laserbeak had done it had worked. Hooping and hollering the twins celebrated but Ravage watched the scene raptly, watching everything grow and distend. Restless and indecisive.

When everything did cool down and a mech shape finally took place it was a massive one. Slipping off of the now tiny berth the new mech crashed to the floor and screamed. Horrifing and spark snaring Frenzy and Rumble had to lower their audials before rushing over to try to calm the suffering mech, but like how it had been with Laserbeak they could not hear them.

“Doc! Doc! SAY SOMETHING!” Rumble tugged at a massive arm trying to uncurl them from their fetal position but they were too much to big. Barely the size of the new mechs palm even a normal sized mech could do little with what they were now working with.

In the midsts of the howling dial tone white noise, parts of Knock Out broke through. _**“Sc-cs-sc-cs-screaming, grind-d-d-d-d-d-d-ding, lah-ah-ah-ag-ag-ag-ah-aughing, everywhere, everywhere,everywhere,everywhere! Make it stop, make it stop,MAKEITSTOP MAKEITSTOP MAKEITSTOP MAKEITSTOP!”**_

Frenzy swore under his breath. Soundwave wasn’t exactly a normal mech in his own right and while he had trained and learned how to live with his own powers without the spies active imput Knock Out had to deal with them on his own. “Ravage! Is there anything you can do to help him! He’s freaking out he can’t tune out the voices like the boss can!”

Ravage nodded sagely and leapt up onto the titan and pawed at the mech’s face again and again, circling and purring, trying to give Knock Out anything else to focus on but it was too little too late. The titan went dark and Frenzy and Rumble heard the sudden angry pounding of Megatron right outside the door waiting to tear them a new one.

* * *

 

“So you two lost us not only Soundwave whose files we could still activate, Laserbeak whose video footage we could also still activate, and a medic who Whiplash says is actually decent in the field! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO!”

“Aw shut your trap Starscrap as if you even really care! Knock Out was the only one of those selfish genesis slaggers who was decent enough to give this a shot!”

“AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED! If you two were normal mechs I could have you thrown from the ship into the quickest smelting pit for...for sabotage!”

“QUIET Starscream. I think Ravage has awakened him.” Ravage had started to purr, kneading at softer metal of the large mech’s protoform. Megatron leaned over the large slab the medics had created to hold the giant mech and placed a heavy servo on it’s frame. “Soundwave. Are you with us? Can you hear me?” He gave the mech a gentle shake. The titan did not answer, just raised one of it’s smaller secondary arms and pet along the length of Ravage’s frame.

 _ **“Loud. Too loud. Much too loud.”**_ The titan spoke slowly and rather bored.

Megatron scowled but that was a very Soundwave response….perhaps the minicons had not completely failed. “Forgive me old friend but I’ve been worried about you. You’ve been out of commission Soundwave a vile Autobot tried to take you out. He was found and put down I assure you.”

**_“There is a mech who calls me friend who is asking if I am Soundwave but I am not Soundwave and I am not a friend.”_ **

Megatron stepped back a pace. He didn’t know the medic that had fused with Soundwave. He had been Shockwave’s assistant and that could mean anything.“So are you my enemy now?”

**_“This scared mech asks us if we are his enemy. He is foolish. He is selfish. He will only grow to be more selfish.”_ **

“You got that right! Well~ at least we know if we ever have to boggle the Autobots to death we can send out this fucking enigma! As if Conduit wasn’t enough now we have an even bigger soothsayer my Lord! Aren’t you ecstatic? He’ll be such a fine weapon!”

“QUIET STARSCREAM! If he can really see the future then I don’t care how depressing he is!”

“Well let’s see then my lord~ What’s my future?”

**_“Another mech asks me if we can tell his future. He doesn’t understand. They do not care. Do not blame them for their narrow minds.”_ **

“See the Autobots will love this thing! It’ll infuriate them to death trying to please it’s mystifying words and only getting disappointment. Let’s lower our comm security and go on and on about how we found it in a cave on a uninhabited planet or something! They’ll think it’s a Prime corpse come back to life!”

“Shove it up your thruster’s cloud sucker!” Rumble and Frenzy pushed past the two higher officers and jumped up onto the slab to guard their new titan boss.

“Yeah this “thing” you’re talking about is the TIC and spymaster of this operation, plus a pretty nice medic who did a lot more than you did to help the boss! It would have worked if we had warned Knock Out sooner.”

“So you’re admitting you intentionally kept information that could have made this endeavour a success? That sure sounds like treason to me!”

Frenzy scowled up at the taller mech trying to butt helms with the still joking Starscream. Rumble was quick to buy the leader’s favor.“MEGS.”

“You two don’t have to worry. It seems I already worried you enough and that’s how I got this mess. He’s certainly not functional but he’s...something. Which is more than what he’s been so if you can get this to function we can call this a success.”

The two officers left with little else said and Frenzy and Rumble settled on the titan wanting any semblance of what they were used to. They had been up for cycles making sure the medics and scientists didn’t fuck up the Boss any more than they already had. Now they just wanted to be close to their carrier. Ravage continued to purr making the large mechs metal vibrate comfortably. Despite it all they couldn’t power down. “Hey big guy? Ravage is the big guy still awake?” Ravage looked at the weary mini and nodded. Rumble sighed but continued. “Big guy are...are you sure Soundwave’s not in there? Are you sure you’re not okay? How can we make you better?”

The bigger mech rumbled beneath them. ** _“Little mechs are asking me if Soundwave is here. We are telling them yes. Soundwave is here. They know Soundwave is here. They are asking if we are okay? We are….”_** The titan paused unsure of itself, _“Tired. Sore. Healing. Little mechs want to know how to help me but they can’t. Even they don’t understand us. We tell them this is fine. We tell them we will be fine. We tell them to stay and rest. We all need rest.”_

“Y-you serious is he really okay now? All good?” The twins inched closer to the giant mech, the titan picked them both off him with his massive servos and pulled them close to his chest.

**_“Little mechs are using arbitrary words but are none the less concerned. We are telling them both are fine but not fine yet. Well but not well enough yet. We are not good, we are not okay but we will function. We can be better.”_ **

Frenzy sighed he knew what that meant. Waiting.“Well...if you’re gonna be around for a while what should we call you?” Rumble split his tiny digits around one of the titan’s big ones. It had been forever since he’d been this close to Frenzy and Ravage without being conformed to Soundwave.

**_“Little mechs are asking about me asking what I call myself what we call us and we don’t know. We are asking little mechs for time. Time and rest.”_ **

“Sure thing big guy. We feel ya’.” The small group fell into recharge and though cycle after cycle Frenzy and Rumble awoke and did whatever they were ordered to do the titan stayed. Sometimes waking but never leaving the slab. Ravage stayed with them day after day sending the twins updates and one night they came back to a more lively mech. Ravage had said they had stood up and started walking around. Megatron and a few other brawny officers had corralled them into the main conference area.

Running as fast as they could to greet the gestalt the twins stalled at the sight of the titan kneeling in front of Megatron. Sneaking closer they were treated to the sight of the titan’s face, two bright glossy optics showing off some scene nowhere near the base. “No wonder KO’s having trouble, he’s still got Laserbeak in there too!”

“Yeah and he said he couldn’t do it with more than one mech! What a liar.” Rushing up Megatron took a step to the side so the mini’s could greet the gestalt. “Big guy you’re finally up and at em! That mean you and KO are okay!” Frenzy sounded so hopeful, it felt like forever since they’d seen the boss and while Ravage seemed to be okay with it he certainly wasn’t and he knew his brother wasn’t either! His mood fell as the other mech responded, still cryptic and distant as ever.

**_“Little mechs are caring again and little mechs are to be saddened by truth. So many mechs both little and less little have no patience. No patience and yet so much was done. So much change. Still Soundwave wants his little mechs to be happy. Soundwave wants them to come home to help. One is already helping. Ravage is already helping.”_ **

“Seriously! W-we can join you guys? But what about KO he’s not really compatible?”

“Yeah Boss you only had Laserbeak with you and you turned to a lump!” Rumble backed his brother up, not wanting to be stuck in some amalgamated mess himself.

_**“Little twins are asking questions but not understanding truths. Not considering Jumpcut is not Knock Out. Jumpcut is Jumpcut. Little twins are worrying about things they don’t understand. Things that will be explained. Things that don’t need to be worried over. It’s time little twins come home.”** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then the twins popped on and everything was fine. 
> 
> So this was more of a glitched Jumpcut. Normal Jumpcut has his terrible connection because KO can't really stand Soundwave's powers but he his best. KO get's lost really quickly in all the noise plus the video from Laserbeak if Soundwave's connecting to her and Soundwave has to like pull him back constantly. When its just KO and Soundwave they're both pretty bombastic. More of a trickster type. More of like a film personality. They can flashstep and even almost create coppies of themselves. I'm sure that's more of who you wanted but I'd wanted them to have a bit of a duality to them and give them something more because of Soundwave's minicons. So glitched Jumpcut is Soundwave, Laserbeak and KO together. It's not easy for KO to hold and he gets too sick to really do much but they do have a sort of future vision/ multiple worlds vision type aspect to them. He can also do it with Ravage and they can see things that are sort of bound to happen but can't do it with Frenzy and Rumble. They're too individual. There's too much going on for him to handle. Soundwave managed to disconnect KO and Laserbeak and took him more on himself so lessening the connection back to just the normal sybiote/carrier connection and with the stress off KOs spark he was able to get better but it took him awhile. That really didn't stop Megs though so they had to glitch out often for the leader so they eventually get better at it and form more of a safe way of doing it. I had a real struggle trying to think up a glitched quirk for them so shout out to night in the woods I guess cause the syntax was perfect. Anyway thanks for reading so kudos, comments, and requests. I'll try to another Bee and Ko chapter where they're more established so hopes it wont take me as long lol. Also Ravage can talk but like laserbeak its a wireless sort of thing that they have to send to you.


	8. The Tempest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here's another chapter of this. I think someone asked for more Bee and Knock Out. Well you also get Starscream. Yay

Flying for the first time with Knock Out was crazy. As a bot whose frame could change so easily and take on almost whatever form it was all Bee could do to just let him take the lead as they transformed and raced along the skies. Getting the chance to do a few dives and rolls was enough control and pretty much flying for him in general and by the time they landed Bee was downright missing his wheels.

“You know I thought being an aerial would be fun because Optimus sort of got to do it but now I think it just makes me feel sick.” Bee could hear Knock Out’s laugh deep and mirthfully unsympathetic all around him. He’d gotten used to the Con keeping his distance in his fusions especially since going overboard with Ultra Magnus but it still didn’t make it feel good. He didn’t like the disconnect.

“You’ll get used to it unless…. you really want to change?” Whenever Knock Out got serious Bee swore he could almost see him, a thin vision in the dark fog of the connection. Sometimes so well he swore he could reach out and touch him but his servos felt nothing when he tried.

“No I-I like it. I just- It’s new you know?”

“Not really. I’ve been plenty of strange mechs of all types. Mostly impressive frame types but I’ve fused with a few scientists and “lower class” frames before too and gotten some pretty average things. Lab equipment isn’t the most exciting thing to tell another bot about.”

“You’ve just been at this game a lot longer than I have. I didn’t even know we could change after….everything. Is it easy?”

“Easy enough. We can change whenever you like if you stop being comfortable. I know Breakdown and I did a few times. Mostly just different mods and stuff, we’d switch between more of a war type frame to a medical one but it can go more drastic than that. It took me ages to get Jumpcut right with Soundwave.”

“I think it’ll just take a few more flights till I get used to the feeling in my tanks but it’s- I don’t know-still fun.”

“Hmmm fun. I suppose, but I always end up missing my wheels. Sure it’s faster, perhaps even more thrilling in the air, but you just miss so much more. Part of what I love about racing is even at my fastest I can still catch glimpses of things. Enjoy them for however brief they are. It’s not like that up in the sky. Everything just turns into a blob.”

“Did you want to be a truck with me or something? Optimus wasn’t all that fast on the road so I figured you’d want something fast.”

“I didn’t really want anything. For me it’s just second nature to just go with what I think I have in common with another bot and let them sort of want.”

“Aw don’t tell me that~ I want us to both enjoy being….us. To want it you know?” Bee could hear Knock Out let out a slight huff of a laugh. The noise he always made whenever the bot said something too saccharinely Autobot.

“I like what we are Bee it’s still has my own identity in it, it’s just sometimes you have to just learn to love what you’re given and then if you can’t do that then you make changes.”

“I feel like that mentality is what made you a really bad Decepticon. Honestly. Though I would never expect to hear something like that coming from you.”

“How do you think I dealt with their slag for so long. Although it was less learning to love and more coming to terms that that was just the life I had to deal with. I wasn’t just a nobody anymore even if I was pretty much still treated like one.”

“I just think it’s funny how from your stories it sounds like you were treated better when you were a nobody medic.”

“Yeah~”

Outside Cicindel was stalking around Iacon. With more mechs arriving and filling up Praxus the team was trying to do the work of hundreds as quick as they could and it showed. Things often broke or backfired but that honestly wasn’t Knock Out or Bee’s problem at the moment.

Starscream was. The Con had somehow managed to escape again and with Onslaught contently chilling with Weeljack most of the time they had ultimately no idea where the mech had gone. Not that it really mattered as long as Onslaught stayed put but the last thing the bots needed was the seeker coming back with something else hidden behind his wings.

It was calming really, just getting to walk and talk with Knock Out near his side. Iacon was a beautiful city even if Cybertron’s natural flora had taken it over quite a bit.

“You know Knock Out I never really asked but…..after Cybertron gets back on it’s peds and there are more mechs to help out would you want to go back to another city? Like Xverna? What was it even like?”

“Hmmm well….Xverna was quiet...and old. Some of the houses were literally built into the cliffs and all the others were built on the sea so they created a bay almost. It was populated by mostly aerials and aquatic mechs, even a few beastformers. I liked it quite a bit because it was beautiful but it really was no place for a speedster like me. Nearly every sign of it was bombed to bits and sunk into the sea during the war so I’d be surprised if anyone bothered to rebuild it the way it was but…..the area was nice so I could imagine going there again. Making a nice coastal town...but then maybe they might rebuild the floating city. We have a lot more nautical bots then we did before the war so they might like something more suited for them. It’d be nice to have such a unique city back again.

“Oh that sucks! I...I really wanted to ask you to take me there one day, I remember you saying it was bombed but I thought there might be something left!”

“I could take you to the ruins, the government building and even my old home is still there it’s ….it was carved out of a huge natural crystal so it’s unsalvageable but sturdy enough where we could go inside and look around. There are still the cliff houses too and maybe a bit of the floating city but it might be a bit dangerous with the structural damage.”

“I’d like that. Whenever you’re up for it i’d suffer through sloshing tanks to go on a trip with you. “

“Oh~ That really might be nice. I’d love to take you to the glass caves. They’re these beautiful graveyards where some of the famous bots from the area were laid to rest in these pools and they mixed something into the water and created a crystal top over them and this gas uses up all the neon and almost preserves the mech. It was so nice…..morbidly I suppose I really hope there are still mechs who know how to do that. I knew one the morticians who told me how they did it but I can’t for the life of me remember.” Bee felt a chill run up his backstrut as static filled the void.

“Knock Out! You’re drifting!”

“Sorry! Sorry.”

Falling back as the static started to clear up Bee felt Knock Out’s shoulder behind him, allowing him to rest, to take a break, to vent heavily to overcome the wash of sickness. When he had finally gotten Knock Out to synergise with him Arcee had tried to give him a few of her tips that allowed them to stay together for so long, one of which was either just go along or keep Knock Out on a short mental leash. He didn’t get it at first with Knock Out just following his plans but now that the mech had gotten more comfortable he finally got what she had warned him about. If Knock Out became too interested in a personal memory or he really didn’t want to do something Bee did he’d start to pull away and drift, and it always hurt. “It’s alright. Just don’t go where I can’t follow. I don’t know about every little detail of your life.”

“You don’t have to Bee, you just don’t know what to do with a little radio silence.”

“I like knowing where you are. Can you blame me?” Knock Out chuckled lowly, almost bitterly.

“Bee I’m always right here. If you ever want to get this to feel natural you need to understand that amiable silence and self reflection are perfectly fine. Quiet is fine. Needed at some point. Do you think Soundwave suddenly becomes a chatterbox when he’s with me? He doesn’t that’s where knowing a mech as a mech comes into everything. You’re still your own bot remember you can still have secrets.”

“Secrets huh~. Well I don’t think we need those….how about surprises?”

“Surprises?”

“Yeah! Can I still surprise you even though we’re together?”

“Bumblebee you surprise me every day the more you reveal how saccharinely autobot you are.”

“Sure but can I though?”

“Well….I suppose but that would involve you either flying or walking on your own while also controlling our vision both of which you are not good at.”

“Aww come on! I know you can at least control the vision. No peeking. The flying I’ll handle.”

Knock Out scoffed softly, “Okay perhaps but will you even be able to handle this? You get upset the moment I even start to drift.”

“Well….I have to get used to it I guess…..just don’t go far….whatever that means in this context.”

“Just remember I’m stuck with you and you only have to start to worry when it hurts for no reason. Don’t panic and it won’t hurt.”

“ I get it, I get it. Doesn’t really change anything though or it would have worked the first time you told me.”

“Really? As far as my experiences have taught me you Autobots have thick skulls.”

“Yeah well true but still...I know. Just give me another chance.” Knock Out didn’t respond and for a moment Bee felt sick, the static returning but he pushed it off. This was what he wanted, Knock Out just had a nasty habit of shoving mechs into the Pit before they were ready. He- he could do this.

* * *

 

Looking towards the horizon Cicindel gave up on their hunt and took a sudden sharp turn left and started to run. Sloppy and stumbling they jumped a few times before finally transforming. Managing to take off and get up a few feet they fell quickly into an uncontrollable nosedive before sharply pulling up. The jet continued to stutter and fall and drift barely getting anywhere before they finally leveled out and took off at a near landing speed. The trip was slow but steady after a while and Bee honestly felt great for doing it all on his own and with only the slightest input from Knock Out. Used to being around aerials Knock Out could tell a nice updraft when it was coming and he liked the peeks of scenery.

As Bee risked taking them higher the cold started to seep into their metal, what had barely been a problem for him as a car thanks to his ample heating seemed to be a big deal as an aerial. He knew his new metal was built to stand it but his poor spark wasn’t and they had to land every now and again so they could warm themselves. Bee honestly liked the walk but it did make it seem lonelier especially with Knock Out off wherever he wanted to be. Static would also still seep in every now and again making things difficult but when it got bad Bee would feel a soft brush on his shoulder or a servo intertwined with his own.

By the time they got to where Bee wanted Cicindel was a dizzy mess and a little low on fuel. Auto grade really didn’t go far for a jet. “Alright Knock Out were here!”  
“Oooh a cliff! Exciting.”

“KNOCK OUT! Did you peek?”

“No. I’ll admit this place is a nice spot of the wilds and the view is lovely but it’s nothing fantastical. Is there a reason I should be enamoured by this cliff in general?”

Bee felt his spark dull, yeah without context it really was just a nice cliff wasn’t it? “W-well no I guess not really for you but well…...this was the place where I first met Optimus. I uh…..I think I was a few months old and the war was already crazy so no one had come collecting. I already had kibble and believe it or not if Optimus hadn’t found me I probably would have wound up being a beastformer.”

“Ohh that would have been an improvement~”

“Knock Out!”

“KIdding! Please finish your spark-felt backstory.”

“Well...I don’t know I guess- I know I told you a lot about what I did during the war but I never told you about this so I thought you might like to see it. I can probably even find the small den I dug out of the metal for myself.” Doing a few small circles before settling on his knees Cicindel settled in the dust and looked around the area. Under large flat rock they found a deep tunnel. “Here it is! Primus can you believe we all started out this small?”

“No, because we didn’t. I think I onlined at almost minibot size when I onlined and older mechs like Starscream may as well have come out full size. You only came out so small so the planet could make you as dense as you needed to be. With the dwindling elements it’s all it could manage for you.”

“Aww really? Optimus always said I was an adorable sparkling. I thought they all came out that small.”

“Well you’re in luck because they probably will for a while. The planet may be healed but it’s a living thing. It won’t forget it was starving so quickly. Did you leave anything behind?”

“Uhhh I was barely competent and kind of feral-” Knock Out already had their servo in the hole Bee surpressed a shiver. He still didn’t like stretching the connection of his limbs and it felt so strange to have his servo so far away from his wrist. Plucking out a small pile of thin metal Knock Out cooed in a way Bee had never heard before.

“Ooh~ Look at this! Little sheddings. I’m sure you shed quite a bit with those door wings of yours. So tiny~ Reminds me of newly forged vehicons. Talk about little feral monsters.”

Bee could feel his embarrassment warming Cicindel’s face. “Eh Knock Out?”

“What?”

“N-nothing.”

“There are some nice rocks in here too, your little shiny hoard! Ah primitive sparkling functions are so cute.”

“Knock Out~” This was starting to get too embarrassing for some reason. Maybe taking Knock Out here was a bad idea. “W-we- Why don’t we go explore the wilds!? I remember there being a huge lake around, let’s go see if it’s still there.”

Cicindel settled the small pile back into the hole and clapped their servos clean before getting back up. “Fine by me. We need to fuel up anyway.”

“Did you actually bring something?”

“I did! Did you think that pack I made you clip to our waist was for nothing?

“N-no but you could have had anything in there knowing you. Let’s go fuel up!”

After a few minutes of searching they found the lake and settled down to fuel up. Bee had to admit through all the awkwardness and distrust he loved being Cicidel. He really hoped Knock Out felt the same. He knew it would never be like what he had with Breakdown but they could come close…. Right? For the first time Bee felt himself drifting away, nervous and embarrassed. He knew Knock Out was more perceptive….there were still some things he didn’t want the other mech to know. Even if Knock Out basically already knew. The further he drifted the more he focused on the scenery, the way the tall grass felt, the cool wind, the even colder neon of the lake. Cicindel ran their digits through the solvent, dipping their servo as deep as it would go before the connection got too weak. Bee hadn’t really been able to understand how Knock Out or any mech could lose themselves to synergy but….he was starting to now.

It was a give and take...and not everything had to be spoken. Bee would flex their digits, Knock Out would splay them, skimming them along the surface till Bee got bored and dipped them back in. They were sharing. Sharing everything. Body, mind, life. Together. Eventually Knock Out came to find him.

“We should probably head back now. Magnus will give us slag.”

Bee sighed, “Yeah we probably should.”

“Think you’re ready for another fly together or would you like me to take the helm?”

“You should do it. I’m feeling spacy. I’ll just sit back and twiddle out….I don’t know what plane parts are called.”

“Bee do not twiddle our ailerons we will die.”

Cicindel transformed and took off into the slowly setting sun. If they stayed out any later Magnus would worry and since they were coming home with empty servos he’d be upset as well. As the flew over Iacon something caught their attention. Jets.

“Is that Soundwave? What is he doing so far out?” Bee heard Knock Out groan.

“Eugh, who cares let’s just end it and get Screamy back in prison. Maybe this time he’ll actually listen to me.”

“Doubt it. How do you want to handle this?”

“Let’s separate. We’ve got Soundwave for air support and he looks pretty pissed.”

“Got it.”

* * *

 

Separation was usually such a hassle. It was hard going back to being just himself, remembering what part of him was…..him. It wasn’t as hard when there was danger, Bee knew where he stood so as soon as Cincidel transformed and rammed into the swooping jets sending them all to the ground he could feel the pull. Sure it wasn’t subtle but it was effective. When they landed with a roll Bee didn’t even have to fight as he took off at a charge.

He ducked quickly behind a rock as a missile narrowly missed him. Starscream was using everything he had and Soundwave was oddly on the offensive. The two weren’t leaving him much room so he took himself back a bit.

“HEY! What gives if you two Cons are going to fight take it somewhere else!” It was Soundwave who responded, a grating wave of noise that made Bee’s takes turn. As a mech who had gone long without proper working vocals he’d learned a few unique ways to communicate but even he couldn’t really grasp how Soundwave spoke but this time the Con was coming in loud and clear. Butt out!

“YOU’RE in OUR city! You’re breaking the agreement Soundwave so I’m going to ask for a little more than that to let you continue destroying the place!”

“WHO CARES! He’s trying to kill me! Aren’t you going to help me or not!” Starscream took his shot at the spy but Soundwave was far from distracted

Bee huffed in disbelief. “You broke out! If you want my help then you have to come quietly!”

Bee swore he heard Starscream laughing but what he said might as well have been just as incriminating. “Gladly Autobot! NOW TAKE HIM OUT!”

On the defensive now Soundwave continued to put all his attention on Starscream, only taking pot shots when Bee got too close for comfort. What was going on? Why did he care so much was he under orders from Megatron? Either way Starscream was too banged up, he was bleeding and one of his arms was hanging by a few wires and if Megatron wanted him so badly then he could do it the civil way!

As one of the spy’s tendrils suddenly wrapped around him Bee caught the sight of Knock Out’s spear. Finally! It stuck home and Bee saw and felt Soundwave struggle with current that raced through him.

“Soundwave what are you doing!” Knock Out’s sudden appearance seemed to change everything.

“Doctor run!” Soundwave’s call landed on deaf audials.

Starscream had already gotten to the medic. “Doctor! Help! Please!” Knock Out grabbed at the limping wounded Starscream by his shoulders and looked at him in confusion.

“What it the Pit did you do now Starscream! I told you to stay put and I’d help you!”

“Oh I know Doctor but now you’re really going to help me!” Knock Out tried to push the other mech not enjoying the look in the mech optic but Starscream grabbed at his arm and jammed something into a seam.

There was a sudden flash of light, and thought it started small it continued to grow, parts of the earth started to rip away and sucked towards it as it shot higher and higher and higher. Soundwave had finally gotten Knock Out’s spear free and he grabbed at Bee’s servo and dragged him away, pulling him into a run. The light had only started to die as Bee heard the whoosh of a ground bridge being opened. A massive clawed servo came down on top of them, the digits alone twice as long as Bee was tall. Luckily they slipped through the gaps.

Alone on the other side Bee listened to Soundwave vent heavily, too stunned to say much. “Soundwave? What- what were you doing with him?”

“Defending myself”

A chill seeped through Bee at the sound of the mechs dark gravelly voice. It didn’t seem like his own but it wasn’t the clips he usually used. “You seemed to do a lot of attacking. He was really injured. Why were you all the way out in Iacon anyway?”  
“He called. I’m not sparkless.”

Bee could tell he wasn’t going to get much more than that. He didn’t really care anyway. What Starscream had done to Knock Out was more pressing.“So….how-”

“He has the enigma of combination. The other Combaticons refused to let him join so…. he sought others.”

“He has what! YOU COULD HAVE TOLD ME THAT EARLIER AND I WOULDN’T HAVE BOTHERED YOU!”

“Stupid Bot. I wanted the relic for myself.”

“Of course you did. Well…..what do we do now? We have to get back there Knock Out won’t stand Starscream for long and he’ll need our help!”

“Are you sure? You don’t know Starscream’s will. He is unhinged.”

“Uh yeah! Knock Out’s not just gonna let Starscream stay with him! Especially without his permission!”

“Agreed, but what says he’ll be able to get away?”

“Can Starscream really keep them together?”

“I just barely unfused with him. If I had not known the experience before I would not have been so lucky.”

“You? Why did Starscream go after you of all mechs?”

“Lord Megatron abandoned me as he did Starscream. He thought my loyalty was that weak.”

“Great I just finish healing up and I have to go after another Knock Out fusion monstrosity! Soundwave, let me take us to the base. Knock Out made a weapon specifically for taking down combiners and it works on fusions too I just have to get Wheeljack to fix it again.”

“Again?”

“It’s a long story. Let’s just go.” Soundwave nodded curtly and stalked silently off to the main ground bridge controls.

 

* * *

 

Starscream floundered in the void alone for what felt like years, screaming Knock Out’s name and searching for any trace of him. He’d vaguely understood the who combiner deal but he still expected something more out of it. He knew Knock Out was supposed to be there at least! Somewhere. He had to be! There sparks were fused together! So why wasn’t he answering?!  
He found the answer when he was least expecting it.

Knock Out had made some…..some sort of maze to protect himself. Instead of the inky black nothing that flashed with pictures of the outside world it was mirrors and flashing lights and long dark corridors of the Nemesis. Starscream had ran through trapping doors and up ladders and blown through trap rooms. It was astounding how protective Knock Out was of his own mind, even Soundwave didn’t have something as elaborate but then again why would he? This wasn’t a real threat for him.

It was insulting. Really. Everyone he had tried to get to join him had refused, pushing him away, beat him back, and now here Knock Out was running from him.

“We can be great together doctor! Better than any Bot I’m sure! I’ll admit my faults! I’ll apologize! Just give me another chance! Look at what we’ve become! Look how astounding we are together!” Despite singing their praise Starscream knew little of what they had become without Knock Out’s input there was little could do. He needed to find him at least, force him to cooperate. Still he was determined. “I’ll show you!” Giving up on his search Starscream did the best he could with Knock Out in the shadow’s struggling against him. Blindly crawling wherever he could Starscream forced their optics to open and the world turned strange. A dozen or more different viewpoints all focusing on the same thing.

They were massive as Starscream had hoped, beautiful too in a monstrous way. They were less mech and more elegant mass of metal. It clung to their frame, as it pulled off the buildings around them, adding to the flat filigree rings that tiered every part of their body. Six arms, with twelve massive servos clawing and grasping at their reflection. A dull black and silver face hooked face with more beady red optics than he could count. Even more dotting their beautifully hooped shoulder strutts...and they weren’t even done forming. WIres were still snaking and shooting out, grabbing onto more metal, their broken legs still flexing and shifting as they grew longer and thicker. “YOU SEE DOCTOR! LOOK AT US! YOU COULD NEVER BE LIKE THIS WITH ANYONE ELSE! WE’VE BECOME BETTER THAN A PRIME! BETTER THAN A GOD!”

No matter what he said Knock Out stayed silent and that only made Starscream angrier. Why did they all refuse, why was he the only one to not get a decent ending, to be hunted, and taunted, and tormented! Why did he have to suffer alone when everyone else found solace in others! It just wasn’t fair! It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair, IT WASN’T FAIR! “KNOCK OUT! I DEMAND YOU FACE ME! AS MY SECOND IN COMMAND I’LL SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS TO BETRAYERS!”

As his anger got the best of him though the maze seemed to grow, the walls got thicker, the halls narrower. Till he was again trapped. Swearing he slashed at the walls. How many times was going to do this, how many more rooms was Knock Out going to lock him in! Cracks started to form and energon leeched from the holes, spreading and dripping. ‘Get out. Go away. Leave’ Starscream could only scoff. “Oh yes Doctor real original! You’re being a child! You know I’ll get my way! I always get my way!”

“Oh Starscream don’t be silly you already are. This is all you’re getting from me. I hope you enjoy it.”

“YOU CAN’T RUN FOREVER!”

‘“Heh heh ha HEHEHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Knock Out’s laughter grew louder, and louder till it drowned out every thought in Starscream’s processor and caused static to pool painfully in his chest. “You think so?”

No! He’d make Knock Out see, he’d make this work! Starscream continued to claw at the walls as they continued to close in around him.

* * *

 

At the edge of Iacon Onslaught, Ultra Magnus, Bumblebee, and Soundwave stood staring up at the massive silver and red amalgamation. A massive mech that towered almost as high as a combiner team but with an alien beauty and seamless perfection.

“Welp! Everyday is a new day with you Autobots. I have never seen a combiner like that. Are you sure it’s only Starcream and Knock Out?” Onslaught was sceptical but then again he knew Starscream pretty well so he wasn’t surprised.

“Positive. So can you come up with a plan?” Bee looked up hopefully at the Con. He’d helped them once hopefully he could do it again.

“Well….they’re not really doing much now are they? Sure they’ve got that swirling orbit of metal around them but they are just walking about. Seems like Knock Out’s got this under control if Starscream can’t even get up enough control to leave the area.”

“For how long? If this is just a power battle we don’t know who’ll give out first and as much as I’m sure Knock Out has the advantage Starscream is persistent. We can’t have this titan turning a one eighty and destroying everything in it’s path.” Soundwave nodded in agreement at Ultra Magnus analysis.

“If Knock Out fails this creature won’t be so tame. Starscream has suffered too much for his emotions to remain tepid.”

Onslaught sighed and conceded. “Alright, alright, you’re right. So...which one of you white knights is going to go save the fair medic? Soundwave you are our best bet because you can fly,Magnus you probable have the strongest will to force Starscream out, and Bumblebee you are probably the only one who really wants to go.”

“Hey! Why does that sound like an insult!?” Onslaught sheepishly shrugged his shoulders and floundered with a response luckily Magnus saved him.

“Onslaught the plan first and then we decide who is the best to go!”

“Right! Righ,righ,right. Okay so! With the Enigma of Combination thrown into the mix I’m going to safely assume that Knock Out’s gotten a little upgrade and will hopefully be able to take in another mech which is why they’re still sucking in metal. That could also just be there……..quirk? Defect? I don’t know but either way I’m sure if one of you let yourself get sucked in you could merge and theoretically either push Screamer out or talk him down or...just figure out what’s going on in there in general and if you don’t then we can use the gun.”

“So we’re going to make the problem bigger?” Ultra Magnus didn’t seem swayed but Bee had faith. Soundwave certainly found the logic passible.

“Potentially which is why I suggest we throw the kid in and keep you two out here as heavy hitters because we all know what happened last time our little Bee tried to take on a titan. Starscream won’t be nearly as threatened by Bee and he knows what he’s doing the “Best” seeing as he’s been in a few minds.”

“I...agree. Bumblebee are you ready for this task? It’s….certainly unique so I can offer you no guidance.”

Bee couldn’t help but smile. It was nice to have a non aggro Magnus back. He’d forgotten how much of a comet bear he became when he was in guard mode but he prefered level headed Magnus much more.. “I’ll be fine Sir. I...know what I’m doing….for the most part.”

“SEE! Get in there tiger!” Onslaught slapped Bumblebee on the back.

“Uhh Onslaught? What’s your plan?”

“I told you the plan. Go let him suck you up into his belly and before you can feel your plates start to tear away do your little song and dance. That’s it.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“THAT’S IT?”

“YES! You’ll be fine, we got the gun so just go!”

Bee let out a growling sigh of annoyance and disbelief as he took off at a run to avoid getting another friendly slap on the back. As he looked back to see if Onslaught was playing him in someway all he got was Ultra Magnus’ stern nervous look and Soundwave slowly waving him goodbye, a thumbs up emoticon on his visor. Somehow that seemed more ominus than he probably intended but hey that was the story of Soundwave’s life.

It took forever getting to the titan, they seemed distracted or even ditzy, just stepping from side to side and jumping to random spots. None of it seemingly to avoid Bee since none of their multitude of optics were even on the ground. What in the world was Knock Out even doing in there?

As soon as he felt the pull of the titan’s orbit Bee grabbed onto the sturdiest thing he could. This was it. Now or never. Primus he was terrified. What if Onslaught was wrong and he just got torn to bits? What if Knock Out’s spark imploded from being forced to take on another mech? The terrors went on but he couldn’t think of them So he let go and took off at a running start so nothing would get pulled off of him and as he flew up into the air he let his chestplates open slightly and was pulled flat against the gestalts flat glass waist, Two swirling sparks inside, just waiting to be three. The form said so much about Starscream and Knock Out both. How needy they were, how demanding. The last thing Bee felt was his spark being pulled from his frame.

The void sucked him in, and as the heat dispersed he was awashed in a chilly wind. This place felt significantly more empty than the others. Numbingly so. He called out to Knock Out as he wandered but no answer called back to him. Bee didn’t panic immediately, maybe he couldn’t say anything Starscream wouldn’t also hear but then...Bee knew gestalt partners could keep secrets even forged together. He tried very hard not to think about that. Most combiners were dumb! Knock Out wasn’t dumb so maybe it wasn’t as easy.

Slowly a strange path started to form, cold metal tinged with grime and energon sprouted up from the ground and led him where he needed to go. On the floor Starscream was crawling along, clawing at something, his attacks sending up slashes of green toxic looking liquid.

He was distracted which meant Bee had the upper servo. So...what to do. HIs first instinct was to kick the jet as far as he could but….could he kick a mental manifestation? Bee didn’t know but he believed he could and maybe that was all that mattered. Bee’s ped made the most satisfying clunk as it landed and sent Starscream flying into one of the walls, unfortunatly it didn’t keep the mech down for long. He laughed at Bee as he pushed himself up slowly.

“You’re already too late! He’s gone! Now we’re both trapped here!”

“Gone? What are you talking about Starscream he can’t be gone!”

Starscream slumped back down dramatically in defeat and threw an arm over his eyes and sobbed loudly in what may have been real despair. “He is if I shot a missile at him! Look for yourself! In the stream!” Confused a becoming more panicked by the second Bee inched closer, when he looked down in the stream he could see bits of Knock Out’s armor sunken at the bottom. Quickly Bee sunk to his knees and tried to reach into the water but….his servos never hit bottom.

“Wh- what is this Starscream? What did you do!?”

“I shot a missle at him! I told you! He wouldn’t listen and he just kept screaming at me to get out, that I was overstepping my bounds and well he promised to be my second in command so I wasn’t!-but he just wouldn’t listen. When the smoke cleared this was what was left.”

“Starscream he left you! He didn’t want to be your second in command he didn’t want anything to do with you!”

“That’s not true! He didn’t let Ultra Magnus kill me! And he came to visit my cell to take me out on flights whenever I got too antsy! He still cared about my well being!”

“HE’S A MEDIC THAT’S THEORETICALLY HIS JOB!”

“Why are you yelling at me you’re the one who trapped yourself in here!”

“We’re not trapped you idiot we-’ Bee cut himself off. If Starscream knew he could still function the gestalt without Knock Out’s input then who knows what he would do. “M-magnus and Onslaught are outside with a gun made specifically for tearing gestalts apart. They’ll get us free.”

“Oh joy! Prison and crippling loneliness again for me then how wonderful! Why is it that everyone gets a second chance except me hm? Why does everyone get a happy ending at my expense?!”

“YOU used up a dozen or so second chances! It’s not my fault you treat everyone like slag and push them away OR get them killed!”

“Well it’s not my fault either! Alright so maybe it is a little bit but…..it’s how you had to survive in the Cons! Knock Out understands.”

“Yeah well I’m sure you can screech you apologies at Knock Out’s peds when I figure out how to get him back! I’m sure he’ll really want to forgive you.”

“You’re being sarcastic!”

“NO SLAG! You violated him! He didn’t agree to this and you don’t even care!”

Starscream made a disgusted face. “You make it sound so horrid. I was trying to show him something better! You’re just jealous. I saw the puny mech you two create must really hurt- speaking of hurt how are you touching that solvent for so long? It’s like acid!”

It may have been for starscream but it felt like nothing for Bumblebee. Just a rushing icy current even though the stream looked so placid. He had his arm shoved in all the way down and he swore he could just about touch some part of Knock Out at the bottom, the metal so strangely warm. “Just shut up for a second I almost got something!”

“How is my talking taking away from your ability to grab?”

“Listen! If you want to complain fine but help me out! Grab my legs so I can reach deeper!

“Oh fine! Not like it will do anything!” Starscream grabbed at Bee’s thick peds and watched as the bot shimmied on his belly till he was further down into the water.

As Bee stretched his reach he could still just touch something at the bottom, one of Knock Out’s doors. Starscream let him slip a little further but the bottom fled from him. So it was one of those games. Kicking gently in hopes the jet would let him go Starscream instead reached down and grabbed him by his backplates and yanked him clear out of the water.

“Whats with the flailing! Your weak little engine flooding already?”

“No I wanted you to let me go!”

Starscream glared at him for a moment the dropped him with a roll of his optics. He watched the bot sink quickly to the bottom….then disappear. “Wh-ell…..i suppose I will just go sit in a corner and weep till the rest of the Autobots fix this mess. Bless this mess.”

* * *

 

When Bee stopped falling he hit a floor, the metal floor of a Decepticon medship. It was clean, it was cold, it was empty save for two figures in the distance. A younger Knock Out, slimmer, a pale pearly grey, and covered in deep scars, and a femme medic Bee had never seen before who wore a Cheshire smile, and slick blue. He quickly hid behind a pushcart of tools as he listened to them talk even though he was almost sure they couldn’t see him. What in the world was this?

“Iniscura darling tell me it’s lovely.”

“It is lovely! I’m sure you will look even better in it. It’s time you got rid of those old scars. It’s a shame to have to send you to the ground but orders are orders and anything you need to learn you’ll learn from doing.”

“I’d be honored if you could do it for me...along with the procedure we discussed earlier.” the femme took a step forward and placed a clawed servo on Knock Out’s thin shoulder.

“I’m so proud of you, you won’t regret this I promise.”

A memory, Bee had fallen into one of Knock Out’s memories….but...why?

 

* * *

 

On the outside the only thing the other trio of mechs saw was the strange titan turn from a steely red and silver to a gold and blue. Onslaught stopped chewing on his flavored silicon to express his professional analysis over the sight “Well….that’s not good. Boys?” He gave the disrupter gun a quick kiss and then took off at a run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://i.imgur.com/t1iLjQq.jpg 
> 
> This is basically what I imagine they look but they also have another set of arms and six servos. which float off also sans boobs or with boobs I don't care but obviously more robotic. The have more of starscream's build and more of those decorative bits every where as well as floating rings. They don't really have an alt because I imagine they are a prime but they have guns and wings and thrusters. For their name I can't choose between tempest and Janus. Whelp Kudos, comments, and requests as always here or on my tumblr!


	9. Contusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a little interstitial chapter before I get to the next one. Had to remember the plot I was going with but also wanted to write a fun less plot heavy chapter!

Breakdown remembered it being on Marleew-X3. Deathsaurus had decided. The place was cyberformed in three days. They were officially a colony now. A Decepticon colony. It was a nice planet the local fauna and flora actually took to the cyberforming quite well. Not so organic that their bodies couldn’t survive and keep what unique traits they had. It was far from Cybertron but close to a well known port world and by luck was pretty rich in energon. It worked in their favor, the crew hadn’t seen Autobots in a few years. Deathsaurus wanted to quickly send out a memo to any nearby ships that weren’t being pursued but Heratech convinced him to hold off. To get the place ready. In the end, the sent out a message to a few further away ships and sent a small crew to the port planet to get supplies while the others worked. Things were looking up.

Menasor was often busy, clearing wilds or carrying large amounts of supplies to and from places. Knock Out was also busy, stuck in the makeshift buildings healing wounded. While the fauna took to being turned to inorganic well it didn’t mean they didn’t cause problems. The atmosphere was also rich in electrical charge. Great for certain things like powering equipment but it made a few of them sick if they stayed out too long. The gas that spewed up from certain spots on the planet was also a danger. It sunk into a mechs metal and made it sensitive and flaky. The scientists were happy to have real work to do though.

The calm was a terrifying one though, every mech watched the skies just waiting for any sign of an Autobot ship. They’d already had a few run-ins with other space fearers looking for the port world but thanks to Deathsaurus’ leadership and his terrifying alt they were quickly sent on their way. It helped them all start to slowly settle in. By the time the crew sent off had returned, the first houses were up, and energon was being passed around everyone was ready to put the war behind them.

By the time the hospital was up and three more ships of Decepticons had arrived the idea of war was barely a black spot on everyone’s optic. They wanted to ignore it, they wanted to let go. Breakdown hadn’t helped form Menasor in months and he’d started on as a nurse in the hospital with Knock Out.

It wasn’t great. There were far too many close quarters and all the sick and injured mechs made him panic, and with his build he wasn’t really fit for the work that wasn’t carting in wounded but Knock Out was always there to give him instructions, always able to stop and teach him something and when he couldn’t there was Tripdeck. He was bright and young and stupid but he’d come from the last batch of academy-trained so he was skillful and cunning when he needed to be. He had a crush on Dead End and after getting basically Knock Out’s blessing to hit him up he was happy to chat with Breakdown to get any good information he could. Breakdown and him often spent nights with the vehicons when Knock Out was stuck on the floor and Breakdown didn’t feel like running off to his team. Breakdown told the young Con as much as he was comfortable. He was the closest to Dead End so he didn’t want to break every ounce of trust they had but at the same time he loved Knock Out, they all did but while the other guys would often look and point out other mechs that caught their attention he could never join in. There was no one he wanted to be with more than Knock Out. So he sneakily played matchmaker. Not just with Dead End either. If the others could be swayed Breakdown found a way to distract them.

They were happy to be honestly. They all loved Knock Out because Menasor loved him. Those feelings would never leave but aside from himself and Dragstrip the other three Stunticons weren’t the most nurturing or patient and Knock Out was a busy tired mech who barely had the time to return to their shared home or even take an hour break let alone indulge them whenever they needed an ego boost or a good frag.

That only got worse when Deathsaurus decided to leave the planet. Placing Knock Out in a position of power. Breakdown remembered the leader coming to the hospital personally after Knock Out couldn’t get away. Conduit always dragging him back to a table no matter what he said. He’d taken the medic to a private room, leaving all the others to gossip and eavesdrop. Knock Out didn’t make it hard. He sounded frantic even with the glass muffling him.

The colony was thriving. Megatron wanted him to cyberform more worlds. Someone had to take his place. That person was, of course, Heratech but not wanting the planet to turn into a cultish nightmare of deviants and dark world worshipers he wanted Knock Out to be put on a council with three others. There wasn’t quite room for him to refuse. Menasor was a Decepticon weapon, after all, a weapon only he had real control of and with Deathsaurus gone Menasor would be the best line of defense for the colony. Deathsaurus also lauded Knock Out’s own leadership prowess for even dealing with the lot but the real reason for his placement was obvious. He wanted to make sure Knock Out knew how much the burgeoning colony relied on him now should things go horribly wrong.

The extra workload was alright in the beginning. Nothing really changed. The new council had worked out what duties were best for each of them and things ran smoothly. Things continued to thrive. While Heratech indeed encouraged the dark religion on the colony and Conduit was eager to instill fear and loyalty in his new flock things were still good. Mechs could still do as they pleased without judgment. Nothing set aflame and burned down in a single mass suicide like Dead End and others had so often feared. Beyond all doubt, things worked and mechs settled.

Breakdown remembered slow cycles at the hospital when Knock Out would find him when they could play hooky from their jobs for just a little while. They’d run off during empty hours and relax by the cliffsides to watch the miners on duty that cycle move in and out of the tunnels. Chatting happily as they refueled and Knock Out worked on finances, trade agreements, who knows what. Breakdown felt bad for not asking more about his council work but Dead End and Dragstrip were always there to help with that. They were smarter mechs than he was so they offered better help. Knock Out never said a word so he doubt it bothered him at the time or at all.

It was in those moments that Breakdown really fell head over heels. When a dull throbbing crush turned into a selfish fire. He wanted to believe Knock Out chose him out of the lot of them not just because he was there or because he was the most pitiful but because he actually had deeper feelings for him. He wanted to believe it so badly even if deep down he knew it wasn’t true.

Then Knock Out got sick. No one really knew what from. Terrastorm said he just passed out and the medics said it was his spark to blame.Conduit did all he could, gave him treatments cycle after cycle but it was barely a fix. He couldn’t online for more than an hour or two he and certainly couldn’t move around.

The medics promised they wouldn’t give up searching for a treatment but Breakdown watched the cycles pass. Watched Knock Out wither as they let him die in peace. It was the Decepticon way, to let a mech die in dignity but the night Breakdown caught Heratech giving Knock Out ritus he panicked. He wasn’t going to let Knock Out die! He couldn’t!

Sneaking into the mechs private room he held Knock Out close and wept, his frame was so cold, his metal so dull. Knock Out deserved so much better, he deserved better than just to die as soon as he had the chance of something nice.

“Doc? Can ya hear me? How can I help you?” Breakdown’s own voice was meager, soft not to be heard but also faint with sorrow. It been a long time since he’d spoken so meekly, sounded so lost and confused. “Doc, please. Please wake up for just a bit.” No amount of begging would do if only he could heal like Conduit. If only he wasn’t some stupid bruiser who just barely knew what to do! “Doc you gotta be okay, you gotta get better! We need ya, I need ya.”

No answer, not even a twitch. Just the faint huff of his ex-vents every now and then. Falling back to the berth Breakdown curled up against the corner as he tried not to calm down. There had to be an answer! There had to!

Knock Out’s spark was weak, it was fading. All it needed was more energy. Breakdown could do that! He’d never combined with Knock Out alone but he’d seen Knock Out do it with others. If he could just get him to do that!

Carefully Breakdown rested Knock Out back against his knee, firm digits stroking along the lines of his chest plate. He didn’t know why he was so nervous. He’d done this before. How different could it be from forming Six-point? This time it would just be him and Knock Out. Knock Out would understand once he got better, he wouldn’t mind. This was for the best, this could work, this could save him!

Taking in a deep vent Breakdown hunched over Knock Out and slowly opened his chest plates. The spark inside flickered in the sudden breeze but settled to a dull pulse. Breakdown ran his thumbs down the metal holding it in place. It wasn’t even warm with how weak Knock Out was. “I’ll fix you up Doc. I promise. You just...your wore yourself out. Too many long nights. I’ll take care of ya.” Just as slowly Breakdown opened his own chest plates and he felt his spark jump, already so used to and so eager to merge with Knock Out’s. It made Breakdown’s face heat. It never did that when he fooled around with Dead End or Wildrider. “Come on Doc, I know this ain’t romantic or how I would have wanted it….but you gotta. I don’t know what I’ll do without you.” Breakdown gently lifted Knock Out up and hugged him close, his spark jumped again and dull pain throbbed through his chest as it tried to pull away to join Knock Out’s. Without any response from the others though, it just lingered there waiting. He felt it crackle and spark against Knock Out’s begging to be let in but Knock Out was too weak. This wasn’t going to work. Breakdown’s face twisted in despair as he buried his face in the crook of Knock Out’s neck. This was all he had, all he could think of without going to Conduit. They would never let him do this even if it could work.

Engulfed by his panicked thoughts Breakdown didn’t feel Knock Out’s spark spark against his, or see the flash of his optics as they tried to online. He barely heard Knock Out mumble his name before he was turning hot, his plates extending out into a mess. Breakdown didn’t know what to do so he just held Knock Out tighter and hoped for the best.

With his optics dimmed and offlined in fear, Breakdown could have sworn nothing had changed. Knock Out was still in his arms, both still unmoving save for the tears dripping down Breakdown’s cheeks. It wasn’t till he felt Knock Out’s claws slowly trail down his face till he knew anything at all had happened. By the time he could react Knock Out was already falling back into unconsciousness. Any energy he’d leeched off Breakdown already used up. Breakdown swore as he screamed Knock Out’s name, shook him lightly but desperate to get anything more from him in vain.

As he looked around though he quickly realized...he was alone. Alone in a dark strange void. Alone in a miserable hospital room! Alone- Pain surged through his spark, tugging and ripping at him. It was a pain he was familiar with, a pain he remembered. He wasn’t alone. Knock Out was just too weak to help him. Breakdown needed to help him, keep them together. All he had to do was wake up.

Wake up.

Wake up!

Wakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeupwakeup! A noise just outside the door startled Breakdown. Someone was coming. Someone was coming! Scrambling from the berth he tried to stand and instantly bumped his helm on the ceiling and fell to the floor on his knees. “Slag!” Breakdown didn’t recognize his own voice...because he wasn’t himself. He didn’t know who he was anymore.

 _“It’s okay. You don’t have to know yet.”_ Knock Out.

“KNOCK OUT! Knock Out where are you!”

 _“Hush Breakdown, you’ll attract the others. I’m right here. I can’t go anywhere.”_ Breakdown felt a weak touch on his cheek again. He really was there.

“Are you okay? Is this helping?”There was no answer but a heavy weight fell into Breakdown’s arms. He held it tight even though there was nothing there. No, Knock Out was there. He needed him.With a shuddering ex-vent Breakdown assessed his situation.

Whoever they were now...they were large. Not nearly as large as Menasor but in the tiny room of the hospital Breakdown still felt bits of his back scraping against the ceiling even as he kneeled in the space. Primus, he wanted to get out. He needed fresh air, nothing that smelled like bleach and rust. He needed space! Without thinking, Breakdown wrenched the door open and made a mad army crawl down the dark quiet hall. Whoever had been close must have left or had been looking for another room. Still, that was only the beginning.

Needless to say, he was caught by the time Breakdown made it to the stairs, the teams of frantic confused medics tugging at wherever they could. They may not have known how it happened but they all knew Knock Out was the only one who could have made it happen and he was supposedly dying. Breakdown managed to pick them off like clinging kittens but Conduit arrived quicker than Breakdown could have imagined. Breakdown cowered under his glare even if at his full height he was barely taller than their ped.

“I expected this to happen and since we tried to keep Knock Out’s condition on a need to know basis to minimize panic from you idiots I can only assume that’s you in there Breakdown.”

“You were going to let him die! You were reading him ritus! I can help him!” Conduit’s gaze was unaffected and unamused.

“We were preparing to do the same thing you did. On the off chance the strain simply guttered his spark entirely, yes I did read him ritus. What would you have done if your plan failed? Kept yourself fused with a corpse? You’re irrational Breakdown, impudent. We weren’t just gonna tell you and your lot and have you throw a fuss. Now that it’s all too late though.” Conduit trailed off and Breakdown felt his new frame vent a sigh of relief. “Any improvement?”

“He-he’s still with me. I still feel fine. It’s gonna take time.” Conduit’s glare turned even more stern as he neared, knuckles prodding at whatever he could touch on the new frame.

“Looks like a good connection. Judging from the number of wheels you have...nice big carrier truck. Could be useful. Real unbalanced monstrosity though...face’s a disappointment. Guessing Knock Out didn’t get much say. Is that a mask you got on?”

“H-hey!” Breakdown self consciously grabbed at his new face. It was so strange having so much control of a strange new frame that wasn’t entirely his. Usually, if he wanted to be a dick he could only fuck Menasor over with a limp and that was only if Motormaster was really off his game and their connection was fading.

It did feel like the had a mask on. Some fancy visor that blended into a battle mask with a strange filigree over it. Straining his visual input he could only see the corners of the room but he could feel his jaw open, his lips moving instinctively as he spoke so it was a fancy one that linked to his systems rather than just his true face. A lot of things felt like that. Too big. Like they worked but there were parts hidden inside them as well. Like Six-point they were wearing a costume, armor over their actual armor. “Yeah, it’s a mask.”

Conduit just continued to glare, obviously disapproving. He had a soft spot for Knock Out and not a single one for any of the Stunticons. “Let me get you a note. I don’t want you doing anything while you’re with Knock Out. Stay home. Take a break. Don’t be stupid. Report any significant change in his activity immediately you understand?”

“Right. Got it.” That’s what he told Conduit but to the Pit if he was actually going to go home! Not only would the others have thrown a fit and tried to rip them apart but he wouldn’t be able to sit still even if he had nothing to do. So he packed up some energon and a few other necessities and struck out into the wilds because if there was one thing Breakdown was good at running away from, it was his problems.

Besides, the wilds of Marleew were great! Beautiful and quiet and teeming with natural wonders! It was going to be an adventure! Maybe not one Knock Out would love...but they’d have fun! Tons of fun. It was going to be a long adventure though...he couldn’t transform without Knock Out’s input. That just left them plenty of time to talk and talk Breakdown did. Without the stress of work or the other Stunticons shushing him, Breakdown became quite the chatterbox. Going on about the scenery or their new frame or anything that came to mind. He really found himself talking about the book he’d started thanks to Tripdeck. It was full of aliens and space adventure and daring thieves and epic battles. The characters going through it all almost never wavering in bravery or passion. That’s what made it fantasy he supposed. Heroes never died in books but gung-ho idiots died all the time in real war.

Through it all Knock Out was silent but Breakdown could still feel the heavy weight in his arms. Shifting every now and then. The dull pounding of a spark brushing up against his. He always held Knock Out tighter whenever he started to twitch, not wanting the mech to wander and get lost. He’d seen what happened to some fusions Knock Out couldn’t control, beastly things with nasty minds. Mechs with tempers as bad as Mensor even at half the size.

They spent cycles watching the stars, Breakdown mapping new ones. Creating stories for Knock Out and writing them down to tell him later. Night after night something, some voice in the back of his processor telling him to go off to one. Just the two of them. They were all they needed. Knock Out couldn’t get hurt like this. Breakdown would never let him. The others would only want to ruin that. Tear them to bits. He knew that he couldn’t though, knew that wasn’t what Knock Out would want. He couldn’t be selfish just because he had everything he’d ever wanted. Optics offlined and safe under his thermal tarp Breakdown swore he could hear the Doctor egging him. Claws stroking his face and chest, teasing him.

_“Let’s go. Just for a little while. No one has to know.”_

“Really? Just head off into the stars? Go find some Autobots to beat up.”

_“New places to find. It’s amazing here but it’s lost its charm. So mundane.”_

“You’ll never be satisfied will you Doc. I think you’re just scared.” A long moment of silence. It made sense Breakdown couldn’t imagine what the Doctor might say to that. They weren’t exactly close enough, Doc treated them all like his personal batch of new sparks more than teammates. He kept so many things to himself.

_“I might be...but can you blame me Breakdown? The moment we forget about them they’ll ruin everything. Best not to just wait around for it to happen.”_

“Doc?” No answer. “I’ll never let that happen to ya. Not while I’m standing.” The silence continued to pervade his mind but Breakdown hugged the weight in his arms as tight as he could anyway.

As he onlined morning after morning, and sometimes afternoon, things started to change. Maybe it had to do with his increasing talks with “Knock Out” or maybe it was just the isolation driving him mad but slowly Breakdown started to...lose himself and something else was born in his place.

It had been almost a month since the two had synergized and Conduit had long since noticed the gestalts absence. He’d left things as they were considering he’d told Breakdown to go and relax but the mech hadn’t checked in once. Knock Out would have been more than stable by now. Unbeknownst to most others, the young medic’s spark had a history of fading like this. His time being a fanciful show for the elite not without its scars. When they had the equipment it was an easy fix and Precipa had just finished refurbishing the old charge supporter. No more need for unnecessary variables. So he went to the only mechs who would have a chance of tracking the gestalt down.

Considering how enraged they all were at the news, Breakdown hadn’t exactly been honest about keeping touch. Motormaster being considerably touchy. Conduit could understand why, Knock Out had refrained from fusing with any member of the team separately for the very reason but not much that could be done now. Conduit let him have his tantrum even though he had plenty of other mechs attention before shepherding the lot to the road.

Even with Breakdown at the helm of the fusion Conduit was surprised to find the gestalt so far out into the wilds. Almost a three cycle trip. He would have had almost no idea where to look if he hadn’t remembered the natural springs that Knock Out had once gone on about. Not as good as the hot oil pools back on Cybertron but similar enough. The solvent that ran through the metal earth was rich in foreign oils and minerals thanks to the cyberform and many mechs who had made the trip or discovered the springs on accident were already claiming how wonderful the hidden spot was. Conduit had meant to find and mark the place himself and take his weary flock of healers there for some healing of his own but time just hadn’t been on his side with Deathsaurus sending more and more wayward ships to their paradise.

As the five mechs transformed and carefully moved through the thick wood Dragstrip spotted a massive sabaton and it’s partner sitting by the riverside in the lush space. As they neared they found more bits of armor, thigh guards, chest piece, gauntlets, and even the gestalts mask. Conduit fondled the intricate filigree and astounding inner circuitry. Such an odd concept. Surely this wasn’t the mechs only armor, it was so obvious, it strapped on for Primus sake! Any idiot with a good enough blade could hack it off and leave the idiot vulnerable.He certainly didn’t remember that when they’d left...had they changed over the time? Knock Out must have healed up enough if they were evolving themselves.

“I found them Conduit!” Conduit dropped the mask carefully into the pile of armor and headed towards Dead End grabbing the mech by the mouth to hush him from whatever stupid nonsense he thought was important for him to impart.

“Good. You lot stay back while I handle this.” Motormaster quickly shoved through Wildrider and Dragstrip to speak his peace with the medic but all it took was one glare to have him growling back to his place. “Mmhmm.”

With a sigh Conduit slowly approached the mech. He wasn’t going to be mad. Breakdown was a stupid boy but he meant well. Clearing his vocalizer he stopped just a few inches away from the divot the gestalt was leaning back against. Helm resting on his forearms and a wet cloth over his massive face. “Well, well. Enjoying this little natural wonder now are you?”

The mech just stretched his almost rudimentary bare peds in relaxation, head tilting up to blindly look at whoever had made the sound. “Sure am stranger. Rivers got plenty room and the temperature is per-fec-to! Join me if you’d like. I like company. Fine company if I may be so bold~”

One of Conduit’s optic ridges shot up in disapproval. “I am no stranger and I am the last thing from fine company to you Breakdown. You insolent fool!” This had the gestalt jumping to his peds, solvent rushing from all his parts like the waterfall that was only a few yards upstream. Thankfully the mech did indeed have more armor than just what they’d left by the riverside but they were bare enough to sport a sheepish blush instantly. The cloth that had once covered their optics now hiding the excuse they called for a codpiece. Dark One’s save him he could practically see all the seams of their modesty paneling.

“C-c-conduit! N-n-now what’re you doin all the way out here surprising a poor old mech like me.”A deep bubbly laughter came with the surprise, the gestalt’s voice turning to a harsh teasing whisper as he continued. “ Alone in his skivvies, I might add. It ain’t right to ambush a mech in his skivvies Condy, y- you-your a better mech than that~ You should’a just asked me otherwise~”

Conduit dimmed his optics and prayed for strength. It was clear Knock Out had at least become well enough to complete the connection. He was dealing with a whole new mech now. Without their armor, they were less disproportionate. Slim but built, curvy like Knock Out but with a few more boxy angles and wheels embedded into the back of peds for easy use. The others still attached to sabatons. It was hard to glare up into a now handsome, impish face and stay mad even if it did resemble more of Breakdown than Knock Out, though it would be hard to tell. Those black rimmed dusky orange optics glimmering with guilt yet no remorse meant that this wasn’t a mech who could be scolded or tamed no matter how much Conduit despised letting it roam free he knew getting them separated was going to take an effort. Likely a painful one and Conduit did always hate that.

“You were supposed to check in Breakdown.” Again the gestalt scratched sheepishly at his cheek.

“W-was he? Well, I-I’m sure he’s very sorry b-but look at this place Condy~ Not a place that can be left ignored, Oooh~ no sir!” The gestalt stretched, purposefully showing off all the sinful lines of their frame in hopes to distract him. Conduit’s optic twitched behind its housing at the use of the nickname again. He would not be swayed by this massive hooligans charms.

“He was. You need to come home now. I think you’ve wasted enough time lazing about and Knock Out needs to be checked out. We have the equipment to make sure he makes a quick recovery.”

The gestalt gave him a mournful look as he unfolded his towel and tied it around his hip. “In a stuffy hospital room? Hooked up to some machine? No thank you, sir, no thank you.” Slowly he shifted his massive frame back into the warm river, barely making a splash as he sunk in to his waist.

Done with sitting by the sidelines the other stunticons had crept forward. Wildrider rushed the bigger mech and kicked him roughly in the elbow joint. “Breakdown! Get the fuck outta the Doc or I’ll bust your face! No ones allowed to be with the Doc unless we all are you prick!” The gestalt simply looked down at him and with a muted laugh picked Wildrider up like a kitten and slowly massaged circles into the metal of his neck.

“That’s alright, it’s all right~ We can be together. You wanna be here with me Wildrider. I bet you do~” Stunned by the sudden attention Wildrider wasn’t expecting the mech to place a kiss to his helm. Thumb digits slipping lower as they traced all of the manic bots sensitive seams leaving him a pile of goo. Calm now Wildrider could only vent slowly as he was nestled in the crook of the gestalts neck. “S-see Condy this is better an-and the best thing about time is..it’s irrelevant. ‘Poof’ Not real when we don’t need it back again when we do. Like magic.”

Conduit was not having any of it and the gestalt could practically feel the venom in his field. “Perhaps for you, but Knock Out is a mech that is relied on. He needs to get well and return to his duties. The gestalt sighed again in response his massive helm shifting lightly from side to side as he mocked the other mech.

“Fine, fine, fine. I get it. You got me. There’s just-” yawning the gestalt slipped from the river and headed over to his armor. The other Stunticons fled further back to not be in the titan’s way, still in awe at what it’d done to Wildrider. “No reason to make things difficult now. Ol’ Contusion will pull on his bootstraps for ya’. Get things done if that’ll make ya happy.”

Well...it certainly wasn’t ideal but being one of Knock Out’s better fusions Conduit suspected that the gestalt was smart enough to do some paperwork. “I suppose that would be a good compromise. You will also go to the hospital for an examination. Knock Out’s health is our priority...Contusion.”

For the first time, the titan glared down at him as he slipped one of his sabatons into place. Optics narrowed and menacing. “You know Doc, I see your lips moving but I don’t believe a word they’re sayin’. But that’s just me.” Conduit couldn’t help but chuckle softly. Knock Out would have simply told him to go screw himself. Perhaps Breakdown had more manners than he was given credit for.

“You will do as instructed of face to consequences. Hijacking a council member of our burgeoning world is not a great move. No matter how close.” Contusion rolled his optics.

“Yes, yes, yes. Breakdown’s an idiot screw up. Save it Condy. I was in such a good mood before ya’ll showed up and crashed my party.”

* * *

  
Back home in the city Contusion was much more useful. With his armor on, he was an impressive sight and anyone who was lucky enough to catch a sight of the large carrier was quickly intrigued. They had fans instantly, mechs eager to follow the small band all the way to the council building to see who they presumed had just landed. Ever the charmer the gestalt indulged them all with his time and vague answers of his arrival. Conduit was sure the gestalt was thankful for him moving things along with how many mechs were at his peds asking questions.

He sent Contusion home with a much thicker stack of paperwork than was necessary in hopes of boring Breakdown into separating but said nothing else as the Stunticons drove home a few hours later.

Finally free from Conduit’s judgment though didn’t mean the gestalt was free of conflict. While Wildrider may have been subdued the others were still obviously pissy and Breakdown for breaking the unspoken rule the Doc had set up even if it was to save his life and even if they had strayed to other interests. It was an unwelcome niggling pain at the back of Contusions mind and it only got worse as the cycles went on.

Motormaster, however, was quite forthright with his disdain at even the most simple interactions. Contusion, being the easy-going mech he was, was able to ignore most of them knowing full well the leader was just as jealous as the others but it didn’t take long for him to finally snap.

It had been late, the council had sent over more and more paperwork that had been piling up but the titan was still stuck on one of the ongoing cases that had been brought up. Nothing major, a minor assault of some sort but the charge was dubious. Assault in the new system depending on the severity of the damage done went from a petty fine and a meeting with a medic for emotional recalibration to full spark removal and purity for up to a decade in the case of murder. Heratech really trying to hammer home the point that they were putting the war behind them with that one.

This was nothing more than a bar fight that had escalated but the poor mech on the chopping block insists that the slagger who ran his smart mouth left the bar with far fewer injuries than he arrived at the hospital with. Of course most of the witnesses that night were either friends from one side, the other or simple mechs who didn’t pay much more attention than a broken glass and a dented table so no one's story matched up. Needless to say, it was taking the council a long time to figure out a proper punishment. This wouldn’t have been so bad if the two weren’t already vicious with one another and wanting justice.

It was a very shady happenstance though and judging by the pictures of the injuries and the time frame Contusion had come to a conclusion that sour Rouser was just trying to cause harm for something petty than interested in getting a dangerous mech off the streets for a little while to rethink his actions a bit. With him being new and all to the council though, the small jury they’d amassed didn’t hold much stock in his judgment as they would have if it came from Knock Out even if it was coming from the exact same place. They were likely going to have to separate so Knock Out could return to his duties properly and that was leaving Contusion sour himself. He was rather happy just hanging around, getting things done for the Doc, and he didn’t think he was ready to be getting gone just yet.

So in comes Motormaster, bitter as a carbon chaser. Somehow he’d gotten the short stick and was forced into bringing the gestalt their energon for the night and he was none too pleased. He completed the task just fine but not without as much less than passive aggressive sass than necessary.

Scraped paint, a dent on his ped, and a tangible death glare weren’t much but Contusion was getting rather bored and Motormaster needed to be taught. Tossing down his papers to the desk Contusion cleared his vocalizer, catching the other mechs attention. “Now-” the gestalts drawl creating a pregnant pause. “I know you aren’t being snippy with me when I’m reading my legalese.” Motormaster just held his glare, impetuous as ever.

“Like you can even understand half what they’re asking you to do. You aren’t fooling anyone junkheap, Just because you wanna play with the Doc doesn’t mean he wants anything to do with you back. You’re gonna get what's coming to ya when he finally wakes up in there for real.”  
Whatever anger Contusion had managed to muster up in his face fell away back to his usual tired gaze. Motormaster smirked as he turned to leave. “That’s what I thought. Not so proud anymore are you. Nothing but an ugly fraud, you’ll never escape it junkheap.” With his back to the titan, Motormaster wasn’t expecting the massive servo that smacked him easily into the wall before sharp claws nearly the with of his own leg wrapped around him and squeeze him tight. Just enough to hurt, just enough scare him.

Motormaster growled. “To the Pit, you think I’mma let you intimidate me! You might be bigger now junkheap but I’ll gladly beat you outta the Doc and show you who you really are!”

“Will you now? How lively~” Motormaster’s reply caught in his intake as the claws squeezing him slowly started petting his back, the tips dipping under a few of his exposed wires. “Well~ I think you got a lot of unnecessary fight in you Master~ How’d’ya think we should deal with that?” Motormaster shivered as he was flipped over. That...that was definitely Knock Out. No way around it. He was in trouble now.

“D-doc-”

“Mmhmm?” Contusion didn’t let him speak, ideas already plaguing his mind. Motormaster could only keep face as he was manhandled into place in the titan’s palms. Long pinpoint claws going right to his sensitive spots, caressing half moons spots right under his headlights and digging deeper into the wires of his back.

“D-doc I-” Again the titan cut him off as thumbs pressed into his tanks lightly, palms grinding lightly against the warm metal of his codpiece and splaying his legs apart. The proud mech could only choke on his muffled groan as warm lips kissed between his splayed legs, glossia teasing under Motormaster’s codpiece to hidden modesty plating.

“I think you need to learn who you’re really dealing with, mister. Ey?” Morormaster turned away from Contusion’s burning smolder only realizing how hot his face was as soon as it met cold metal. Motormaster felt the light shake of the gestalt as he laughed. “Mhhmm, that’s what I thought. I’ll make sure this lesson sticks.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol I hope you enjoyed this Bob Ross/Mcree/Yondu amalgamation I made. He's a good soft fight boy. Welp. Kudos,comments, and requests here or on my tumblr if you'd like

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my god if you look close enough you can totally tell that Knock Out has just been a fusion of Frenzy and Rumble the whole time! If you guys like it I might write another chapter.


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